


The Foreigner

by An Observing Litten (HarukaWritesThings)



Series: Litten's Narrative [3]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Angst, Boys In Love, FirstFriendShipping, Fluff, Humor, Love, M/M, Platonic Love, Pure Love, Romance, SatoGou, Soft Boys, Talking Pokémon (Thank Litten for this), journeyshipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:41:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25052575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarukaWritesThings/pseuds/An%20Observing%20Litten
Summary: My Trainer has returned to school for the first time since months! She figured out that Chloe and Goh are studying in the same place but in different classes. However, she's very worried lately because Professor Cerise's daughter has been having a strange behaviour and hiding a secret...
Relationships: Gou | Goh/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum
Series: Litten's Narrative [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1745155
Kudos: 35





	The Foreigner

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Hello again! I wasn't expecting such a good feedback on my original story, "A Change of Routine" and the texts that have followed up! Especially "Other Step"! Thank you so much once again for the positive feedback I got so far! If you didn't read the previous two chapters of this series narrated by Litten I highly recommend to do so before diving in this third chapter for an overall enjoyment of the story as they all have continuity!
> 
> A few quick notes:
> 
> \- I like to think that this story happens somewhere between episode 26 and 27 of Pokémon Journeys/Pocket Monsters (2019)! And it's a sequel to other AO3 text I have called "Finding Toxel", also happening in the same interval of time between the official episodes.  
> \- I'm not an English native speaker so I ask apologies in advance in case the writing is a little weird sometimes.  
> \- Canon characters' voices = Japanese  
> \- (EDIT September 2020) Now the chapter has got an illustrated header!  
> \- (EDIT December 2020) I did a general revision to the text to fix grammar and verbal snags, as well doing some minor alterations. Tags were added. Some links were added for the purpose to improve the overall reading experience.  
> \- (EDIT December 2020) Additionally, I took advantage of the text revision to implement canon elements that were clarified in the very recent episode 49 of Pokémon Journeys, namely: Goh's seat in the classroom, that he only goes to school for tests (something I already assumed back when I wrote this text in July 2020 but I was happy to see the headcanon confirmed :) ) and the fact that Ren helps Goh with the studies.  
> \- (EDIT February 2021) Other canon element was added, namely from episode 54 because of the Japanese episode's name and the movie title that Ren had mentioned early in the same episode. It's a fun coincidence because I had used a Mission Impossible tune at a point of the text, and I couldn't miss the chance to add the reference to "Spy & Sniper"! I also did some minor fixes in grammar and alterations in few sentences.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this new text! Happy reading!

“Alright, students. You know how it works. You have ninety minutes to do the test. No smartphone peeking, unless you want a shortcut for a round zero on your mark! And if I listen to a single whisper you’ll get a flying chalk on your heads before you can blink an eye!! Do you understand me?”

“Yes, teacher!”

“Great. Good luck, everyone!”

And the teacher started to hand over the mysterious papers as I could observe from the window nearby my eyes. Today, I decided to spend the morning watching Hope taking her first written test since the bicycle accident. Our Trainer was very confident as she had been studying hard for the latest weeks! No, I wasn’t alone at this day. Toxtricity was napping right behind me! Good thing that this tree where we decided to settle down has got a dense top so nobody could give my adoptive big-baby brother any weird looks. I’m pretty certain that his species and trees are words that don’t stick together.

I know what you’re all thinking right now. I repeat it: adoptive big-baby brother. Big-baby brother. _Brother._ Since Toxel evolved a few weeks ago in that turbulent night our relationship changed completely. It didn’t seem the same Pokémon! He’s quite easy-going, collaborative and he doesn’t pester me all the time like before. Toxtricity revealed to have a good sense of humor and a very playful personality. My brother is the personification of a walking playlist, he _almost never_ misses a chance to play a known music on his chest protrusion to expose his own and the others’ emotions, or to give more atmosphere to the happenings that surround him. It’s very quirky, he’s occasionally derpy and I love it! Because of the forced growth with the Rare Candies diet, he sometimes acts like a baby in large scale, hence the nickname I give him. Toxtricity has become very important for Hope for her increase of freedom of movement. Thanks to his humanoid form, he can push our Trainer’s wheelchair and take her to any place she needs. She became able to visit the outside to catch some fresh air, to visit Cerise Laboratory and the Professor’s house, and to go back to school!

Hope was missing the scholar atmosphere despite of not being quite fond of the uniform that all girls need to wear there. She finds the boys outfits to be cooler and thinks that blue and all that white don’t go quite well on her. On the other hand, in her own opinion, it fits like a glove to Chloe! Both Hope and Chloe started to talk a lot with each other since that dinner we all had offered by Officer Looker, becoming close friends in no time! They exchanged contacts and they meet each other on a regular basis: be it in my Trainer’s house, Chloe’s house or even at her father’s Laboratory. They had both learnt that the two of them were frequenting the same school in Vermilion City but they were in different classes! Some of the teachers happened to be the same so that makes it easier for both girls to discuss about homework and recent subject topics that they learn in the classes they get.

Hope had just smiled after seeing through all the test’s questions and stuck out her tongue a little. _I knew what that face meant!!_ That test was going to be a piece of cake! If she’s confident, then I was sure she was going to succeed in it!! I knew nothing much would happen next as silence had taken over that classroom so I decided to move to other branches to observe other windows with views for other classrooms. And I discovered the one where Chloe was! And to my shock I had noticed one detail. _Goh was there!_ I thought he was never going to school? At least that’s what I could observe from previous times I went here and from the statements I’ve heard before from Chloe’s mouth. How does he graduate this way? _Go-h figure!_ And let me be honest: white is _not_ his colour. Just the colour. The outfit’s good actually! It felt really strange for me to see him wearing that outfit. The blue-eyed boy seemed quite bored as well, like if he couldn’t wait for the bell to ring and get out of there. Once in a while, I could observe Chloe, from her desk, discretely looking back and making a grimace once there was a visual contact as a way to ask him to snap out of his thoughts. What was he thinking about during that class to be so often distracted? I suspect about different themes, especially _one_ … but hey, I’m not a Psychic-type to guess the right answer!

It seemed that they were in their Japanese class. I could understand this by listening to their teacher talking about language mechanics and other more complicated topics. I remember this being a subject of talk between Chloe and Hope a few days before! Some minutes later, the lecturer had sat to her desk and started to speak out loud:

“Students, I’ve evaluated the homework I’ve asked you last class to deliver to me without writing your names in!”

A whispering followed up inside the classroom. The children had mixed feelings about it: some seemed excited but others seemed nervous. Chloe appeared to quite neutral judging by her face. As for Goh, he had hidden his face on his crossed arms over his desk.

“ _I hated to do it…_ ”, he vented in annoyance. Chloe had heard it and noted him on her own seat, resting her head over her hand, while everyone else were discussing with different classmates:

“For once you have done your homework and didn’t pretend to have forgotten about it. That’s already a progress. _…Not to mention returning to school lately._ ”. The pigtailed girl had whispered the last sentence while leaning closer to her friend’s direction who hummed in displeasure.

“And let me tell you that this poetry exercise has surprised me. There are some texts that have quality but there is one that I absolutely want to read it out loud because it was the only one I’ve given the maximum mark.”

All students stopped to talk as soon as the tutor had spoken, surprised and intrigued who had gotten the best mark. Everyone looked to each other in curiosity, and moved their attentions quietly to their teacher who had adjusted her glasses and started to declaim a poem out loud:

_My dearest, why did you leave me on the ground?_

_They say the grasslands continue to be green,_

_The carefree Mareep flock play in the background,_

_The sky is still tinted like blue marine,_

_But why is everything motionless and grey like a broken machine?_

_I have lost my compass,_

_I cannot find the north star,_

_I don’t pay attention to the ruckus,_

_I won’t play my guitar,_

_My dearest, she has now taken your place._

_And I can’t get her out of my head._

_I’m a personified plant, and she became my vase._

_Her voice pitch is as dark as a bold pencil lead._

_She talks to me day after day, minute by minute, refusing to hush instead._

_Oh, dearest of mine,_

_Lost somewhere into the infinity,_

_Your smile was divine,_

_Every laughter was a symphony,_

_I want to meet you again, and make her stop exposing my melancholy._

My jaw was _dropped_. Just like most of the children in class, in a cutting-edge silence. The text was _beautifully_ written, it looked something that could be used as a song lyric! Even Goh had lifted his head out from his seat in the bottom of the classroom. The face he was doing, I could tell it wasn’t him who wrote that poem. The teacher looked to everyone and asked the same question as I had, while lifting the paper:

“Who wrote this poem? I am asking the author of this text to stand up.”

Seconds later, the writer revealed itself by calmly standing up and answered with closed eyes:

“I did.”

The room echoed with reactions of astonishment. Even I was shocked and pretty certain that my mouth had opened as much as a Gyarados’ one. Goh, incredulous, had lifted himself a little from his seat as he grabbed the edges of his desk and looked to his left. “EEEEEH?!?! Was it you, Chloe?!?!”, he shouted.

“Chloe…”, said the lecturer who stared to her for a few seconds in admiration before she smiled and started to clap her hands.

The students did the same thing, warmly congratulating their classmate’s work. “Well done, Chloe!”, said one boy. “That was a great text, you’re talented!”, told another girl. The green-eyed lass smiled with slight humbleness. Goh was clapping on his own pace, but looking to his pigtailed friend in amazement for Chloe’s creative writing capabilities.

* * *

A little over an hour later, the bell had rung. It was so loud that I was surprised Toxtricity hadn’t awaken. He still had his tongue stuck out of that large mouth, drooling all over the bark! The morning was over and students could be seen exiting the building, scattering to many directions inside the court or even leaving the gates. Some were still inside the classrooms, in order to have lunch before the next class would come. Soon, Chloe and Goh had gathered closer to the window and they started to talk as both were having their own meals.

“Chloe? What was that?!”

“Uhm?”

“The text!!”

“Oh, that.”, she reacted with neutrality as she took a sip of her orange juice.

Goh blinked his eyes out of perplexity with her apparent indifference towards his own reaction. He leaned closer to the girl.

“Chloe, I had no idea that you could write this way! Do you realize how good was your writing?!”

The girl kept eating as she heard her childhood friend in excitement.

“Have you considered to become a writer? You have talent! Didn’t you see how everyone reacted to your poem?! Even the teacher read it out loud! She was really impressed!”

“I’ll think about it.”

“ _You don’t seem enthusiastic about anything…_ ”, commented Goh in annoyance for Chloe’s lack of empathy as he mechanically chewed a piece of bread. The flower-named child took the opportunity to counter and change the subject of talk after swallowing a bit of her lunch portion.

“I’m actually surprised on your enthusiasm about poetry. How are things going between you and Ash?”

“What do you mean? The researches? They have the wind behind their sails!”

“Not the researches, those I already know they go well thanks to dad’s dinner talks at my house. I’m talking about _you two_.“, detailed Chloe while pointing two fingers towards Goh, who immediately yelped out of surprise as he looked sideways in great stress to ensure nobody inside the classroom had heard what the pig-tailed girl had asked. The few students that hadn’t left the division were distant enough and too much focused in their own gossiping in order to notice how Goh was sweating from that spacey forehead!

“Don’t worry, nobody heard.”, Chloe assured him. Goh had sat down again to the chair and had some trouble to look to his friend’s eyes that fixated on his, waiting for a response. She smirked mischievously and insisted in her question:

“So? How is it going?”

“W-Why such sudden interest?...”, stuttered Goh as he kept avoiding direct visual contact with his checks turning as red as a Scizor’s rear.

“Because we’re still friends, I think?”, said an amused Chloe as she gave other bite to her meal with the chopsticks and provokingly moving them around the air as she continued to talk. “I see that your relationship is already in an advanced level. Don’t think I didn’t see that string of saliva in that morning I caught you making out in your dorm before you went to look for Hope’s Toxel.”

“W-WHAT?!”, shouted Goh as he quickly closed his mouth with both hands. The two childhood friends looked to the further classmates who stood silent for a few moments, staring them in alert with the loud noise. They retook the talks after the bordeau-coloured hair lass had given a smile and waved back to them to sign that everything was alright. Now Goh had his hands covering his whole face once Chloe had looked back to her ashamed friend, who pretty much confirmed to me what I had suspected a few weeks back. They were having a very steamy kiss in that bottom bunk the other day!! Chloe is a quite insightful child!

“ _Next time make sure you either double check that the door is locked, or save those intimate cuddling sessions for your sleeping time…_ ”, advised a low-pitched Chloe in an evident tone of mockery. “ _…How long are you kissing that way?_ I bet it’s since the day you’ve confessed to each other.”

Goh moved his head sideways, negating it.

“Really? A week after you started dating then.”, palpitated Chloe with her half-closed eyes.

The boy wasn’t moving from his defensive posture. That was until three seconds later, where he had gotten up and said in a rush:

“ _I’ll be back…!_ ”

“A week!! You did it in just _one week_?!” interjected Chloe with her opened mouth in admiration as she pointed her closed chopsticks to the fleeing friend. “That was quick, Goh!! I didn’t expect that from you!”

I was cackling _hard_ on my side; Goh was _so embarrassed!!_ Now this was a very interesting piece of information. For someone that I knew to not be quite extrovert and sentimental for the general public he revealed to be quite cheeky and not losing any time when it comes about researching new sensations with Ash. Get it? _Researching! HA!!_ At the same instant that Goh opened the door, Hope was right in front of it and moved her wheelchair backwards as a reflex of the sudden encounter.

“Goh! Good afternoon!!”, she greeted with a mix of joy and surprise.

“ _Afternoon, Hope!_ ”, he quickly greeted back as he sprinted out in the corridor and she looked to him with constraint.

“Where are you going?!”

“ _To the bathroom!!_ ”, I have heard from his voice fading in the deep corridor.

My Trainer blinked her eyes as she saw him running away like a Golisopod using the Emergency Exit ability. She then moved herself towards Chloe’s classroom to be closer to the girl and moved her arms away.

“Alola, Chloe!”

“Hello, Hope!”, greeted Chloe back in a lighter mood, pleased to see her. “How was your test?”

“A piece of cake!”, she flexed her arms while grinning, showing all her white teeth. “I’m sure I’ll have a good mark!”

“You studied for that anyway so I am counting on you!”, giggled the pigtailed lass.

“And the Japanese class? How did it go?”

“It was alright. We continued last class’ topic an-“

Chloe interrupted her own speech after realizing that Hope had snagged away a paper that was on her side, reading it. “ _H-hey!!_ ”, she stuttered with slight disturbance. The red-haired girl opened her mouth and her eyes of the same shade shone.

“Chloe, you didn’t show me this! So, this is the homework you told me about last time you had to write? It’s awesome!!”

“ _T-Thanks…_ ”, Chloe thanked with a faint blush on her cheeks as she recovered her paper and saved it in her backpack.

“This would go well on a ballad, do you know? It has potential to be included in a song!”

“Well, if you say so… It’s probably true.”, Hope’s friend smiled. “Have you eaten already?”

“Oh! I nearly forgot about it!! I got so excited about your homework!”, she said as she quickly turned her body to reach the backpack and removed her lunchbox to eat. This had made Chloe let out a small laugh. After the first bite, my Trainer realized that Goh’s lunchbox was only half eaten. She lifted her head and decided to make a comment to her Kantonian friend:

“I’m surprised that Goh went to school today!”

“I know, right? Arceus must have lost one of his Plates.”, jocosely noted Chloe, making Hope snort. “I’m sure that Ash must have convinced him to come, otherwise he would never have the initiative to do so.”

“Love surely creates miracles, isn’t it?”, cheerfully said my Trainer as she kept eating her portion.

“He only really listens to Ash, and only Ash. Nobody else’s opinion counts.”

Hope noticed that Chloe’s observation carried some negativity, so she tried to counter that feeling:

“But it’s a good thing, no? He wasn’t coming to school for a year, didn’t you tell me that a while back? If he decided to return, it means he is overcoming his insecurities!”

“Hope, if you had met Goh a year ago you wouldn’t believe that I’m talking about the same person. I swear that he was as cold as a Sneasel, had a heart of stone like a Geodude and was as closed as a Shellder. He changed so much in these latest months, since dad opened his Laboratory and… Ash appeared.”

Hope nodded in affirmation. “I believe in you.”, she said with naturality and continued to listen to Chloe.

“I don’t really understand what’s so special about Ash, I admit that the other boy that I remember Goh to confess first his feelings was more handsome but…”

“Is he still in this school?”

“No, he moved to Johto from what I learnt about much later.”

“I see.”

“I just know that Ash managed to break through his diamond shield. I don’t know how but he did it.”

“If you want my honesty, Chloe; Ash battles with _lots_ of style. I never saw him battling live but I did see the Alolan Championship broadcasts on TV at the hospital. My soul was all _fired up_ in excitement seeing him winning a match after other, it was incredible! I’m sure that Goh wasn’t indifferent to this in that day there was an Ivysaur outbreak!”

Chloe didn’t comment about Hope’s reflection. A real pity because I’m in full agreement with her. I really want Hope to see Ash battling live one of these days because he’s a talented Trainer and I had a great experience to collaborate in my previous adventures with him and his boyfriend! And I would like Chloe to start appreciating battles as well. They’re much more than just an entertainment for the masses! And I truly miss battling with my Trainer. And I know Hope misses it likewise.

“Pokémon are wonderful creatures!”, continued Hope with her cheerful spirit. “They inspire me to write up my own songs and they make me feel less lonely! I think that us humans would live in a boring world without them.”

Hope looked to the classroom’s clock and then looked to the entrance.

“Isn’t Goh taking time?”

“Washing his face _always_ takes time.”

“ _…Don’t tell me you embarrassed him again with indiscrete questions!_ ”, told an incredulous Hope anticipating Chloe’s actions before she had arrived to her classroom.

“You need to agree with me: it’s fun to see Goh all embarrassed every time I ask about his relationship with Ash. He’s completely vulnerable about this subject.”, smiled an amused Chloe. “Do you imagine that he already tried THE kiss with him?”

My red-haired friend nearly choked herself with the mochi she was chewing, having to quickly drink her water bottle in one go. “For real?!”, she asked in shock.

“Remember the morning where you called us because of your missing Toxel? I caught them making out in their dorm doing it. What I had figured out minutes before you appeared is that they tried out for the first time this type of kiss for much longer than what I had originally expected. I jokingly asked if it was in the same day of the confession but after all it was a week after that. I couldn’t believe in it!”

“ _… Oh, a Hundred Sweet Malasadas_! Goh is already way more experienced in love than I am!!...”, exclaimed a stunned Hope who had her jaw dropped and was moving her hand a lot. “ _They’re this far already?!_ ”

“I’m actually more concerned that Ash is already way more experienced in love than both of us together, Hope.”, added Chloe with a constrained pitch. Hope stared to her for two seconds before she gave a big burst of laughter. “Don’t be so savage, Chloe!! Give Ash a break! He’s a good boy! _Come on!!!_ ”

“Have you thought about it? That dense boy can’t be good in kissing. I’m sure it’s Goh having all the work.”

“ _…How sure are you about that?_ ”

“ _I-…_ ”

The two girls snorted uncontrollably. Mostly because Chloe couldn’t stay indifferent anymore after my Trainer’s resisting face as swollen as an upset Qwilfish. I couldn’t stop laughing either on my own side! Once Hope does that face, I _always_ lose myself into tears. Toxtricity has seen this once already and he also laughs like a happy lost soul!

Goh had appeared at this moment, confused about the fun atmosphere and rather impressed to see Chloe laughing.

“Where’s Chloe?”, asked Goh to Hope.

“She’s right side to us! Haha!”, she replied with her sweet smile. “We were just talking.”

“Goh, I’m still human, you know?... I know how to laugh.”, responded Chloe slightly bummed about his question.

“Come on, you two! Get along, shall you?”, said Hope in great optimism as she saved her empty lunch box back to her bag.

“Instead of mocking me finish your lunch instead.”, added Chloe.

“Sure.”, Goh replied as he sat down and picked up his chopsticks again.

“Goh?”

The blue-eyed boy looked to Hope with curiosity. She returned a honest smile and said:

“It’s good to see you back to school.”

Goh wasn’t expecting Hope’s commentary. He smiled with determination and nodded with his head.

“Thank you, Hope.”, he replied as he started to eat again.

* * *

The kids had talked for a while before the bell had rung once more. The three of them had an afternoon class to attend before they were freed for the rest of the day. The classes were really boring, I even fell asleep. Curiously enough, Toxtricity had awaken and was carefully listening to them. Once I got up, I asked him:

“Am I missing much?”

“Not really, little-big sister. Unless figuring out which shop sells the most expensive lemons interests you…”

“ _…Who would buy such expensive lemons anyway?_ ”

“ _~Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!~_ ”, sung Toxtricity, [parodying a famous rock song with his simultaneous chest protrusion play](https://youtu.be/YR5ApYxkU-U?t=177) .

Here was the ringing sound again. Another group of students was leaving the gate. I stretched my limbs and told to my brother:

“Classes are over for today. Let’s go down and wait for Hope in the gate.”

“Yeah! Let’s go!”, he partied as he played a quick tune on his chest protrusion. “Jump to my shoulder, sis!”

And I did as he said! Right after, he jumped to the floor in style and did a breakdance move.

“Wahoo!”, I yelled in amusement and jumped off. “That was groovy! You’re getting better at this!”

“I’ve got to be as cool as the humans in the videoclips!”, said Toxtricity after getting up and following my way.

It didn’t take much time before seeing the children passing through the gate. Chloe was moving Hope’s wheelchair. They all smiled once they saw us.

“There they are! Litten! Toxtricity!”, said Hope. I jumped to her lap and I purred once she pet my head. Toxtricity ran in circles and did a derpy face as he approached his face on hers, making her laugh even more. She also pet his head, making him stick his tongue out of delight and tap his right foot onto the floor like a noisy drum.

“Your Pokémon really like you, Hope!”, observed Goh. “They’re so happy to see you!”

“They’re better to be happy! Afterall I give them _all the spoiling_ they want.”, joked our Trainer as she naughtily looked to us and ruffled harder on our heads.

If Goh thought that this greeting was exclusive to Hope, he was wrong. Both Toxtricity and I moved next to the charcoal-coloured hair boy and I scrubbed his leg. Toxtricity gave a soft poke on his shoulder with his closed hand. Goh giggled, pleased with our greetings.

“It’s good to see you two again!”, he said in between giggles.

I also scrubbed Chloe’s leg, making her smile and let her pet my head like other times. She had more trouble to interact with Toxtricity because of his weird faces, but she did an effort to touch his horn. He chuckled with the gesture, pleased with the soft petting.

“Hello you two.”, she said. “So, you want to drive Hope’s wheelchair, right? Go ahead.”

“Thanks, Chloe! Vroom, _vroom_!! _Haha!_ So cool! _I’m a driver!!_ ”, I heard the blue-lights punk saying as he grabbed the chair’s handles in excitement.

“Alright, Toxtricity! It’s to stop by Cerise Laboratory! Please take me there!”

“Roger that!”

On their way back to the lab, the kids talked on the walk. The subject was primarily centered in the topics learnt at this day at school but once the majority of the educational matter was covered, Hope decided to be bold considering nobody was around them.

“So, Goh! Tell us one thing! Is the Alolan Champion as skilled in kissing as he’s in the battlefield?”

Both Chloe and Goh changed their facial expressions upon listening to our Trainer’s daring question. Goh was turning the colour of his skin again like a Kecleon, and Chloe was quite awkward with her friend’s feeling of ease like if she had only asked what time was it. Toxtricity and I looked to each other briefly and gave a super wide smirk.

“ _C-CHLOE?!?!?!_ ”

“I-I didn’t think she would ask this question to you, Goh!!!”

“YOU DIDN’T NEED TO TELL HER ABOUT WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING!!”

“Chloe doesn’t believe that Ash is a good kisser, while I believe that he is. We couldn’t reach a consensus so I thought that the only way to know the truth was to ask you directly. There’s no better source of information other than asking to his twin soul. Could you tell us, Goh?”, she explained with a sweet smile, clearly demonstrating that Hope’s curiosity was purely casual and hadn’t malice. The blue-eyed boy had briefly looked to us and Chloe with some unsettlement, but since he had trust in the red-haired girl and that they were in a safer environment to talk about this sort of subject he decided to respond in a soothing, embarrassed voice:

“ _Well… How should I put this… He’s perfect the way he is…_ ”

“Does that mean it’s a yes?”, asked Hope with a crescent excitement in her speech.

“I already responded, Hope.”, Goh said as he turned his head back to the road, closed his eyes and let out a small smile out of his lips, still blushing a lot.

“ _Oooooh!!_ ”, exclaimed Hope with her mouth completely opened in delight as she clenched her hands and shook them in the air. “It’s a yes, _it’s a yes!!_ ”

“Are you sure? Goh’s response was pretty vague!”, countered a doubtful Chloe. “Ash could be motionless just pouting his lips and yet being perfect for him. That would make him the _worst_ kisser of the world! That’s not how you do THE kiss correctly!”

“If it was just a lip kiss Goh wouldn’t become a Kecleon, Chloe!”, retorted my long-haired trainer while lifting her arms. “That means Ash knows how to do THE kiss. Conclusion? _He’s skilled!!_ ”

“ _Oh please… Skilled in THE kiss? Sure, once Caterpie grow a pair of wings before evolution._ ”

“ _It’s a yes, Chloe!!_ Don’t deny the truth!!”, insisted Hope in her belief as she turned her body to Chloe in frown.

“It’s a no, Hope!! I’m basing myself in _facts_!!”, reinforced Chloe with the same pitch as her friend.

And the two were arguing “yeses” and “nos” for the remaining meters. My brother and I just giggled because of the scenario. They were taking this very seriously! Goh was daydreaming, his head now facing the sky. I looked to my big baby brother and asked:

“What do you think, Toxtricity?”

“Me? I think in the same as Hope!”

“I like your mindset! We’re three then!”

A further familiar shout echoed around, interrupting the girls’ argue and making Goh snap back to reality: “ _Heeeey! You’re back!!_ ”

It was Ash Ketchum himself! He was waiting on the last step of the stairs of the Laboratory’s exterior with Pikachu. The energic boy, was showing his shining white smile that we were already used to as he was running down stairs with his waving arm and his electric buddy following him behind. Goh’s eyes immediately illuminated themselves with a very faint blushing on his cheeks. Hope smiled in satisfaction, and Chloe just let out a “Oh, look who it is.”.

“He’s very dedicated! For how long has he been waiting there?”, wondered Hope. “This is so sweet!”

“ASH! SLOW DOWN!!”, shouted Chloe in seriousness with both hands parallel to each other nearby the mouth. “YOU’RE GOING TO-“

“WHOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAA _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!_ ”

“ASH, _NO!!_ ”, I heard Pikachu screaming.

A loud crash and interjections of pain were heard, a sound after other. [Toxtricity played a fitting tune on his chest protrusion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJq3SYvpzbc) .

“ _Same old Ash…_ ”, commented Pikachu, sighing awkwardly.

“Ladies and gentleman, behold the Champion of Alola…”, clapped Chloe in irony. Hope giggled with some constraint.

“ASH!!”, yelled Goh as he ran towards the staircase entrance and bent himself towards his fallen lover. “Why did you run?! Look at you!!”

“I was happy to see you again and I couldn’t wait longer- _OUCH!_ ”

Goh let out a quick laughter. “You really couldn’t wait three minutes more before I would open the laboratory’s door? You’re so silly!”

The school-uniformed lad had stretched his hand to help his boyfriend get up. Once Ash had grabbed it, he was making strength to force the lifting but with no success. Apparently, the cap-wearing kid was countering by also applying some muscular work, like if he didn’t want to get up!

“What are you doing?! Stop doing strength downwards and get up!”

“Just appreciating the view for longer, the red shades in your hair are as bright as fire today!”

I swear I could see Goh’s nose exhaling furiously after listening to such a cute compliment that Ash had just done! It reminded me of a Torkoal’s shell, even the facial expression was equal!! He applied extra force on his left arm and managed to pull Ash up, who couldn’t stop giggling in satisfaction for Goh’s flattered reaction.

Suddenly all this happy atmosphere was interrupted by a group of five school-uniformed boys that were a little behind the girls, Toxtricity and I. They were cackling in a shady way and the looks they were giving weren’t properly friendly at all.

“So the rumours are true!”, said one of them.

“The Pokémaniac has returned to school!”, added the second one.

“Ooh, look! It is a Psyduck!! GO-H GET IT! _GO-H GO-H GO-H!_ ”

“And he _did_ get himself a _boyfriend_! Goh’s weird tastes haven’t changed! I’m sure he played with dolls as a little kid!”

“Better watch out, _he might give you a kiss!_ ”

“Eew, Goh kissing me? I would rather kiss a Koffing! These are more elegant anyway!”

“A Koffing? Even a Jynx has greater beauty than a boy with long eyelashes.”

The group laughed upon realizing Goh was feeling very nervous after listening to those censorable comments. We all frowned to those five idiots that were organized like a pack of rebellious Passimian. Even these Alolan Pokémon wouldn’t go as low as these jerks!

“Have you looked yourselves to a mirror?! How rude!!”, yelled Chloe to the group. She was very offended.

“How dare you be so _mean_?!”, added Hope in the same voice tone with her close-tight hands.

Ash was boiling deep inside, who immediately placed himself in front of an anxious Goh who was probably having flashbacks of the [failed confession that happened a year earlier.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24780067) I know about this because I had heard Chloe telling this story to Hope once. He was bullied due to prejudice and since that sad episode he had refused to return to school. Now that he was starting to overcome his fears, this quintet was determined to ruin it all in mere seconds. Ash shouted furiously:

“LEAVE GOH ALONE!!”

“You must be as _stupid_ as him to enjoy being _kissed by a boy_!”, the third element of the student group had commented out loud.

“I like boys the same way as I like girls, what’s the problem about that?!”

“Liking _both_?! Normal boys like girls only! Only a fool would fall in love for someone so bone-headed and so disgusting as Goh!”, taunted the leader of the group. Ash’s fists were shaking, and so did his shoulders. Goh was feeling even more anxious by seeing his boyfriend getting irritated by the way he also clenched his teeth and made sure that the blue-eyed boy kept behind his back.

“A _“fool”_ that _loves_ Goh _as he is!_ Goh is everything except all what you’ve said! _I love him!!_ He is _much better_ than you five and he’ll become a famous _Pokémon Professor_! _The greatest ever!!!_ I don’t doubt about it!!”

The second member of the group defied Ash’s patience by throwing more fuel to the fire:

“Do you like to wear dresses in weekends? I’m sure you even paint your nails. I can bet you can’t even punch like a real man. _What an idiot…_ ”

“ _WHAT HAVE YOU SAID?!_ ”

Goh pulled Ash’s arms with his own flexed ones, begging for his boyfriend to ignore the insults:

“STOP IT, ASH! LET’S GO INSIDE!! LEAVE THEM HERE!”  
  
“I agree with Goh, Ash!”, Pikachu said to his own Trainer. Ash seemed to have understood his partner’s language.

“Fine… Let’s just leave… _We’re wasting time._ ”

We were all about to cross the stone pillars entrance but this group of idiots decided to form a human cord to block the passage to the long staircase. Even one of them had stolen Goh’s backpack. Those students were really asking for trouble, I was about to roast their faces with my Flamethrower.

“MY BAG!!”, shouted Goh being pushed by one of the jerks.

“I’M GOING TO PHONE DAD!”, added a furious Chloe who had taken off her smartdevice to begin to tap Professor Cerise’s number but other boy had equally taken the device out of her hands and pulled her pigtail. “ _OUCH! LET ME OUT, YOU IDIOT!!_ ”

“ _LET THE TWO OF THEM OUT!!_ I FIGHT YOU!!!”, yelled Ash in frustration for seeing both Goh and Chloe being bullied by the taunting group of students. Pikachu was getting ready to release a Thunderbolt of his cheeks as well, he was as furious as me.

“STOP IT! _ALL OF YOU!!!_ ”, screamed Hope out of her lungs in her wheelchair, already fed up of seeing the whole mess going on in that entrance. “YOU’RE A BUNCH OF WIMPOD! _COWARDS!!_ YOU’RE ONLY STRONG BECAUSE YOU WORK AS A GROUP! YOU’RE JEALOUS ABOUT GOH’S HAPPINESS AND FINDING A LOVE PARTNER FIRST THAN YOU ANY OF YOU! THINGS YOU _DON’T_ HAVE!”

The attentions were now turned to Hope. The guys had a burst of laughter, amused with what she had said.

“ _You’re so cute!!_ You’ve got _lots_ of courage to talk to us _that way_!”, said the leader of the group as he harshly threw Goh’s backpack to the side, being caught by Pikachu. Toxtricity got Chloe’s phone in the air that other jerk had also threw to other direction. The group of five started to approach my Trainer’s wheelchair, alerting Ash.

“HOPE! WATCH OU-“

“Stay back, Ash!”, she assertively asked it out loud with a stretched arm.

“BAD HUMANS!!”, Toxtricity exclaimed in frown, equally alerted by their proximity and about to generate electricity on his chest protrusion.

“Don’t do anything, Toxtricity! You too, Litten!! Leave this to me.”, she ordered us in the same strict tone.

The girl grabbed out a hairtie from her backpack and tied her hair without showing nervousness or removing the eyes from the threatening boys. They kept cackling. And I gasped out of surprise. It has been for _months_ the last time I saw Hope tying her hair to make a ponytail.

“What is it, little big sister?!”, asked the Poison-type Pokémon to me in confusion.

“She tied her hair…!! _She tied her hair!!!_ ”

“Uh, yes, _but-_ “

“Toxtricity, do you remember that retro game that Hope played last weekend?”

“The one where she beat a level boss where the monster looked like a giant Piplup?”

“Exactly! _Play that song!!_ ”

“ _Right now?!_ ”

“ _Do it!!_ _Trust me!!!_ ”

My silk-scarfed brother was reluctant towards my advice and even Pikachu looked to me with concern.

“ _Litten, this is no time for a concert!!_ ”

“For Hope _it is…_ _Just watch…_ ”, I replied to my Electric-type friend with great expectations, contrasting with everyone’s else who were fearing that the five students would harm our Trainer. [The Punk Pokémon anxiously started to play the tune I’ve asked him.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWyc4YCsnWY)

“What are you going to do? To kick our butts?!”, provoked the leader, making the others snort with the intentional joke. That didn’t affect Hope any bit, who kept looking coldly to them with a hand resting down in each of the arms of the wheelchair.

“Geez, I’m _soooo_ scared! This deficient lass is going to give a girly slap on my cheeks, just watch, boys!!”, the second boy taunted, giving two gentle pokes on his own cheek and twisting his head sideways.

That’s when the show begun. Hope couldn’t care less about the provocations so two seconds later she yelled a noise and gave a strong headbutt onto the offending boy’s nose, making him fall on his rear onto the rough tar! The other four got astonished with our Trainer’s response and became really angry after her, determined to bully her for real. Chloe, Ash, Goh and Pikachu gasped out loud in great surprise and shock. I couldn’t stop laughing seeing all of that, and Toxtricity entering in sort of a trance due to his mixture of nervousness and excitement by playing the music even faster!!

“ _YOU STUPID!!_ ”, screamed the fourth member that tried to grab her left arm, and ended up tossed to the floor with both her arm strength and locking. The fifth boy appeared from behind who got punched hard after Hope turning her chair a sideways and done a sweeping combo by placing a hand onto the guy’s leg and forcing him to fall and passing a wheel over the feet. The third idiot tried for the front and Hope purposely moved forward to make the bottom metal place of the chair hit on the legs’ joints of the opponent, hurting him. She grabbed his hands right after and placed them in between the thick edge of the wheel rims, and moved them backwards. The guy cried in pain with the sudden pulling. The stupid leader was the last one to attack and was running like mad with a closed hand. Hope had simply lifted her right leg with her hands on the last moment and the dumb guy nearly got hurt. He had stopped right in time and looked extremely intimidated; I was _cracking myself up!!_ And I’ve entered to a hysterical state upon looking to Ash and Goh sweating from their heads, swallowing dry as they gave a jump backwards after her leg lift. Pikachu shook his hand in amazement. “ _I’m not human but…_ ”, he said without even finishing his sentence!

“ _What’s up with her?!?!_ ”

“ _She’s crazy!!!_ ”

“ _Let’s buzz off!!!_ ”, ordered their leader with his hands covering the hit spot as he awkwardly tried to run away with the others. Hope moved her wheelchair for a few meters in pursuit and shouted out loud:

“YES, RUN AWAY LIKE A COLONY OF RATTATA BEING CHASED BY A PACK OF YUNGOOS!! YOU’RE LUCKY I CAN’T RUN OTHERWISE MY FEET WOULD CRUSH YOUR BONES JUST LIKE A BEWEAR KICKING A LOG! BULLY MY FRIENDS OTHER TIME AND I SHOW YOU WITH HOW MANY POKÉBEANS YOU MAKE AN ISLAND!!”

Chloe was visibly shocked, almost mute. Toxtricity had returned her the phone and the girl had mechanically saved it back.

“Hope…! _W-Wow…!!_ ”

The wheelchaired girl turned back to all of us and smiled like if nothing had happened. Ash and Goh took few seconds to react, especially the charcoal-haired boy. His cap-wearing boyfriend’s eyes shone in excitement and screamed:

“HOPE, THAT WAS _AMAZING_!!! YOU CAN FIGHT!!!”

“ _W-Where_ did you learn to do _those things_ , you never told me!!!”, asked Chloe.

“Well!”, laughed our Trainer with a hand scratching her temple. “Back in Alola I was frequenting self-defense classes! And I’m a big fan of the Masked Royal! _Eeeeenjoy!!~_ ”, she finished by mimicking the famous wrestler’s pose and catchphrase.

“T-Thank you, Hope… _I’m really sorry for what had happened…_ ”, thanked Goh a little bit saddened by his inability to defend himself.

“Why apologizing? You did nothing wrong! I’m sure that they won’t ever come back here again or mess up with you.”, she assured with a wink.

I did warn you earlier to not get fooled by my Trainer’s feminine look!! Hope was a good martial artist student when she still attended those classes in Akala Island. It was good to see she adapted her knowledge to her disabled state. Toxtricity saw I was right about playing that song at that time. And just like everyone else, he loved what he had witnessed. We have an awesome Trainer!

* * *

We calmly entered in Cerise Laboratory. Chloe told out loud “We’re back, dad!”. He positively responded from afar, telling them to settle down in the meal room for a snack as he would soon join them with the staff. Yamper was the first one to appear, running like the wind from the further division.

“Chloe is back! Welcome back!!”, he exclaimed in joy, wiggling his tail as he was pet by his Trainer. The canine Pokémon surrounded Goh and Hope as a way to greet them. He did the same thing to me and my brother upon sight and said: “Good to see you again, Litten! Toxtricity!!”

“Good afternoon, my dude!”, greeted back my big baby brother with a thumbs up.

“Cheerful like always!”, I commented with a wink. “We’re back in one piece!”

Next it appeared Mimey, the Mr. Mime. We had only met him for the first time two days after the dinner with Officer Looker. He’s a pretty chill Pokémon, quite dedicated to chores and to keep an eye on everyone. According to Pikachu, he’s one you do not want to mess up with for a battle because Mimey is much stronger than what he looks like! Pity I didn’t witness that tournament he participated in Hoenn a good while back, I would have enjoyed to see it!

“Oh, the kids are all here now. And Hope as well!”, noted Mimey. “And her buddies! Good afternoon, younglings!”

“Hello there, Mimey!” both me and Toxtricity responded. The returning human children did the same.

“I kept insisting with Ash the entire morning in staying inside doing other things to not catch so much sunlight and make his shorts dirty with dust!”, he vented to us, shaking his head sideways and shrugging. “He kept assuring me he was fine waiting outside for Goh to return! Delia wouldn’t like this stubbornness.”

Pikachu sighed in agreement and added: “I swear I tried to call his reasoning as well but when Ash is fixated in something it is impossible to convince him otherwise.”

“Well, the problem is solved now! Ash has got the stubbornness of a Mudsdale, you can’t change that!”, I noted in a giggle.

The Rabbit Pokémon had appeared for last. Collected like always, hiding his paws inside his fur. “Hi, Litten. Hi, Toxtricity.”

“Yo, Raboot! What’s up?”, Toxtricity approached him and both gave a “brofist”. I also greeted with doing a high-five with my paw on his while saying: “You look like you were buried in the soil and someone took you out without your consent.”

“ _Tell me about it…_ ”, sighed Raboot with a tone of tiredness. “ _I couldn’t sleep properly because Ash was snoring out loud. At a certain moment I just couldn’t take it anymore and kicked him out of the bed._ ”

“ _That didn’t help much, Raboot._ ”, chuckled Pikachu with some awkwardness. “You only made Ash even noisier after awakening him. _He couldn’t stop talking. I ended awakening so…_ ”

“Litten, if you find me a pair of headphones that Hope doesn’t mind to lend me, I’ll gladly sleep with them put on next time…”

“I’ll see what I can do, _haha!_ ”, I laughed.

Professor Cerise exited one of the doors to reach us in the common hall.

“Good afternoon, everyone! Welcome, Hope! Was school alright?”

“Yes, dad! All normal!”, explained his daughter.

“Great, we’ll talk more about it during the snack. I’ll be there in a few minutes! Mr. Mime, could you please serve us a meal in the next fifteen minutes?”

“Sure, Mr. Cerise!”, the Barrier Pokémon nodded while poking his own chest. “I’ll make it quick!”, he said while entering the meal room.

“Get ready to eat soon, it’s very hot today.”, observed Chloe’s father.

“I’ll go up quickly to the dorm to change clothes then.”, noted Goh.

“As for me I’ll put away the schoolbag in your office and find few things quickly.”

“Can I follow you, Chloe? I don’t think I’ve seen your dad’s office yet.”

“Oh sure, Hope! But isn’t it difficult for you to reach it?”

“Toxtricity is very strong in arms, he’ll be ok!”

“I could help lifting the chair from the front!”, offered Ash to help out.

“Good thinking, it will make it easier for Hope’s Pokémon.”, said Chloe in agreement.

Thanks to Ash’s collaboration, Hope was on the first floor in just about a minute. She thanked her cap-wearing friend.

“So, where’s the office?”

“Over here! I can show you a few books that might interest you for your Science classes!”

“Cool! Toxtricity, please follow Chloe!”

“Gotcha!”, he said while pulling the wheelchair inside the division and entering with both girls and Yamper. I decided to follow the boys and their Pokémon. The children have then closed the door and scattered in the dorm. Ash was talking to Raboot, realizing his boyfriend’s Pokémon was still upset with what had happened in this morning.  
  
“Raboot, you could have just either shook me or asked Pikachu to wake me up! Your kick was a _little bit_ strong!”, the lightning-cheeks boy explained with constraint.

“Ash, it was doing nothing! I could only awake you with my Double Kick!”, I understood Raboot’s saying.

“I’m sorry, really! I never realize whenever I’m snoring… And I was having such a good dream! But I remember nothing… _what was it already?_ ”, he wondered while crossing his arms and staring to the ceiling.

“Ash?”, asked Goh, who had already changed up clothes during the ongoing conversation.

“Uh? What is it?”, questioned a curious Ash, turning himself to face the blue-eyes lad now with the grey sweatshirt I do appreciate seeing him wearing. Goh grabbed gently Ash’s arm, closed his eyes and gave a kiss on his cheek. “ _Thank you for earlier._ ”, he said in a soothing voice. Ash gave a small humming out of surprise while blushing furiously, he wasn’t expecting his boyfriend to show affection right now. The slender youngster had then turned to us and smiled. He told us:

“You all must be both hungry and thirsty right now, we took longer to return today. Let’s go down stairs?”

We nodded affirmatively. But before Goh had opened the door his soulmate had hugged him from the back, preventing him from reaching the door knob.  
  
“ _Ash?..._ ”, he asked in a low pitch. His boyfriend had locked his head over Goh’s left shoulder and talked to him in an unusually serene way:

“All that group said down there was everything but the truth. Don’t let people like them take control of yourself. I’m really happy you decided to return to school after our last talk. Even if it was just to talk with the teacher about the possibility to just go for written tests.”

Goh’s pupils shrunk a little after listening to that. He didn’t move out of his place and simply let his arms rest over Ash’s. The charcoal-coloured hair boy apologized with some melancholy:

“ _I’m sorry… I should have responded them back and ask them to leave… I didn't want everyone to be involved in this… That includes Hope, even if she helped us all._ ”

“You haven't fault in this, Goh.”, he assured, following a pause. “You know what?... _You are…_ ”

Ash kissed his temple. “ _…cute..._ ”, he finished. He did other kiss, in the cheek this time. “ _…smart..._ ”, he added. And gave a third kiss closer to the neck, saying also: “…and much better than any of them. You’ll become the _greatest_ Pokémon Professor the Kanto region has ever seen. _No!_ The entire world. No one can convince me otherwise.”

Goh’s eyes mirrored commotion. Just like his lips, they were trembling a little. “ _Ash…_ ” he repeated once again with his docile voice. He turned to his hugging boyfriend, who didn’t let his arms off from his body, and gave a tender kiss on the lips. Goh hugged Ash afterwards and they stood like that in silence, both closing their eyes and sighing slowly. I looked to Pikachu and Raboot while smiling, without saying a word. Pikachu smiled back, and Raboot just nodded with both eyes closed.

* * *

Moments later, we were having our afternoon snack together in the destined division. Lots of fresh fruits and tasty drinks, appropriate for this time of the year! The children that had returned from school had summarized their day to the adults and Ash. Chloe’s father was impressed by his daughter’s homework mark, he even showed the text to Ren and Chrysa who also complimented her talent. The girl was appreciating the compliments and showing a happier mood… until the moment that Ash wanted to read the text, that is. Although Ash had a positive reaction towards the work’s quality, she seemed doubtful about his comment. I could listen to her whispering “ _I wonder if you understood the poem’s meaning…_ ”. The bullying episode of earlier was also mentioned, shocking the adults and disturbing both Yamper, Raboot and Mimey. Yamper felt particularly frustrated because at around the same time he was inside the building but he hadn’t heard the ruckus happening in the exterior. He frowned after smelling Chloe’s hair, recognizing the scent of one of the boys that had grabbed the pigtail.

“If I catch any of those putting a finger on Chloe, they’ll taste my bites!! And I shock them right after!”, the canine threatened.

“So that’s what the boys were talking about in the dorm, I wasn’t understanding the context…”, observed Raboot. “I wouldn’t have wasted time and given a good kick on their rears, if not on other place. Regardless of Hope having helped you out or not.”

“I wanted to help, but she was really telling me and Litten to not do anything!”, explained Toxtricity.

“I wasn’t nearby as well, or else I would have created barriers to send those troublemakers away from the building.”, said Mimey to all of us. “ _Such sad humans…_ ”

“Still, it’s to be commended the fact that Hope was a courageous girl and teach them a lesson!”, noted Chrysa with great satisfaction to learn about our Trainer’s hidden ability. “You’ve got a strong personality, not letting yourself down for a disability!”

“I’m sure those guys won’t target Goh anymore, after all they aren’t going to tell to anyone they were beaten down by a wheelchaired girl!”, added Ren with a small laugh.

“All is well now.”, said Professor Cerise, finishing after in a good tone: “Forget this bad moment from now on and focus on the greatest stuff on present and what’s yet to come.”

The children agreed by nodding.

“Now then, this was a good snack. Thanks for the meal, Mr. Mime!”

“No problem, Professor!”, replied Delia’s Pokémon.

“Let’s get back to work?”

“We can retake it, I’ve finished to eat.”, replied Chrysa.

“Same goes for me.”, said Ren.

“Kids, you’re on your own now.”, informed Chloe’s father who had left the room alongside with his staff. Ash had leaned backwards and stretched himself out.

“Oh man, this was _soooo_ good!”

“Didn’t you have lunch earlier?”, asked Goh.

“I did but…”

“Ash’s stomach is like a bottomless pit. Just like a Snorlax’s appetite. He must have been one in his previous life.”, mockingly spoke Chloe towards the blue-coated lad.

Goh snorted and reinforced the idea: “If that was the case then it must have been very boring!”

The thick-eyebrowed youngster crossed his arms imagining the scenario. He then let out his thoughts:

“As much as I like to sleep, I wouldn’t want to do just that… I wouldn’t have Pikachu’s friendship either. And how would I date you?”

“Uh!... _Well… Maybe I was other Pokémon?_ ”

“ _Which one, then?!_ ”, Ash asked in excitement with the possibilities, now sat normally again.

While the boys were discussing that imaginary scenario, Hope had noticed that Chloe’s plate had still some food. A lot, in fact! She ate less than half of it. Maybe she wasn’t hungry? Hope questioned her friend:

“Aren’t you eating more?”

“No, I’m not quite hungry.”

“I see… That’s strange though, you usually eat everything in the afternoon snacks.”, observed Hope while placing a finger in front of her lips.

“That’s true but today I don’t feel wanting to eat more.”

“Fair enough. So… I’ve got homework to do. Will you help me out with this one, Chloe?”

“Oh, sure! I will. And Goh? Don’t think you’ll escape; you’ll do homework with us.”

“ _Eh?!_ Does it need to be now?!”

“Your dating session can wait an hour more!”, scolded Chloe to her friend. “Ren is busy right now so he can’t help. Go to pick your stationary tools and the math book. The two exercises of page seventy-two can be done fast if we work together.”

“ _Aaaalriiiiight…_ ”, sighed Goh in boredom, clearly doing this against his own will.

“It should be ok, Goh!”, told Ash in an attempt to cheer him up.

“ _That’s easy to say when it is not you doing the exercises…_ ”

“Do you guys have plans for what you want to do while our Trainers are busy?”, asked Raboot to us Pokémon.

“LET’S PLAY!!”, immediately suggested Yamper.

“PLAY?! _YEEES!_ ”, exclaimed my big baby brother right after, as excited as Yamper.

“C-Chill out, you two!!”, asked a disturbed Raboot, overwhelmed by their excessive energy.

“I have an idea! We could play Hide and Seek! The Laboratory has got plenty of space to hide!”

Mimey and I agreed with Pikachu’s idea. The Psychic-type Pokémon has also shown will to play along and said:

“In that case let’s vote! Who wants to play Hide and Seek, lift your arm!”

Everyone lifted, except for Raboot. We all stared to him in a smirk, delighted to see the Rabbit Pokémon sweating from his head.

“ _… You...! I don’t know… Fiiiiiiiiine, I have no choice._ ”

Alright! We convinced the proud Raboot to join us! I was certain it was going to be a fun time! In a blink of an eye, we’ve walked until the façade of the institution. In order to choose who was the first one to play, we organized a quick game where Toxtricity was hiding a rock in a hand and we all had to guess where was it. It took few minutes but in the end, and with math done, we figured out the order of play. Mimey was the first one to look for us while everyone hided. We were all consensual in the rules: It wouldn’t count to leave the street’s entrance or to hide in the Cerise Park. All the remaining spots were valid.

“OK, I’m going to count until thirty. But let me tell you all something: I’ll find you _very fast._ I know _every secret_ of this place, so _no-one’s safe_!”, the weird haired Pokémon had informed us before he hid his head over a tree trunk and starting to count.

“Let’s hide!!”, said Yamper, scattering away from the group. Everyone did the same. I wanted to start easy this time, so the spot I’ve chosen was a bush that was nearby the gate, more down to where Mr. Mime was. Now it was a matter of waiting.

“ _Twenty-seven… Twenty-eight… Twenty-nine…_ Thirty!! Time’s up!”, the dark blue-feet Pokémon had alerted it in high and good sound while looking around. “ _Now then…_ ”

He walked a few meters away, close to the door.

“Oh, my _dear Toxtricity, you’re so naïve…_ ”, he cackled while removing the cover of a trash can with one hand and with the other one grabbing on Toxtricity’s horn. “ _Aaaaaaaaw!!_ How did you find me?!”, he interjected in disappointment.

“I heard the trash can sound when you tried to hide yourself! Be more discreet next time, big boy!”

Woops, Mimey had a point, _haha!_ It could have been a good place to hide if he had been more silent.

“Yamper! I know where you are!......................Here! Hello there!”

“That was fast!!”, he spoke, coming out from a metallic tube big enough for a Pokémon like him to hide inside.

“Now, Raboot… _You could have tried harder._ ”

The Barrier Pokémon used his Psychic move to take Raboot out from the tree top where he had started the count. “You’re right.” he admitted.

“Next to be found is Pikachu and Litten. I feel that these two are hidden in better places.”

I had no idea where Pikachu was hidden. But I figured it out two seconds later. My bush was big and that had caught the attention of my rodent friend as well.

“ _You’re in here too, Litten?!_ ”, he exclaimed while whispering.

“ _I do the same question to you, Pikachu!!_ ”

“ _It’s risky to be in the same spot… But if we move away, we’ll be seen._ ”

“ _Then we should stay here and wait._ ”

“ _The others were found very quickly…_ ”

“ _Either they didn’t try hard or Mimey is just very good in this kind of game._ ”

“ _Oh, if Gengar was playing along it would be even worse._ ”

“ _Really? Why’s that?_ ”

“ _Last time we did this game this he played with all of us by making himself invisible after finishing the count. It made everyone nervous because we couldn’t tell if he was nearby or not. And once he found someone, he would appear out of nowhere doing a grimace and screaming. Because of this some other Pokémon hiding close would get a scare and denouncing their hiding spots!_ ”

“ _…Is that why Raboot was refusing to play this?_ ”

“ _He got so upset after Gengar’s scare that he didn’t talk to him for two days._ ”

“ _What a sore loser! Haha!_ ”

We hushed immediately because Mimey was going down stairs, getting closer to us. “I know you two are nearby!”, he informed out loud. “It’s taking longer……. And I sense you’re in the same place. _But where…?_ ”

“ _H-How does he knows?!_ ”, I whispered in shock to Pikachu.

“ _Don’t talk, Litten!!_ ”

The searching Pokémon decided to check out in the opposite bush of ours, we gave a little relief sigh as soon as he turned the back to us and started to leave. But we were fooled. He had suddenly turned to our bush and used the Psychic move on us!!

“WE’RE BUSTED!!”

“I’m sure he heard our sigh!!”

“That’s correct, Pikachu! Less noise next time!!”, cackled a victorious Mimey.

“Good game!”, congratulated Toxtricity.

“Who’s next?”, asked Pikachu.

“Raboot!”, explained Toxtricity.

“OK, get all ready.”, the Rabbit Pokémon told everyone, walking towards the tree trunk. Round two would start soon, so we all hided again. This time I didn’t want to be so close to the pillars entrance. So, my idea was to go to the back of the building. Good thing I could run fast in order to save some seconds to choose wisely a hiding spot. That’s when I’ve found a hole in a wall of bricks, right behind some tree leaves, it was perfect! And I stood there. Over fifteen minutes have passed and I wasn’t found yet, I was happy that I was making this difficult to Goh’s Pokémon. While I was waiting to be found, I noticed that one of the windows had opened. Chloe had placed her head out and she seemed to be looking for something. That’s when I got really intrigued. The sunbeams were briefly blocked by a shadow coming from the sky. And it stopped right in front of Chloe. It was a Swellow! Upon the eye contact, the girl gave him a box and the Flying-type picked it up with his beak and set of out of the window that was closed right after. _What was that?_ Chloe wasn’t quite fond of Pokémon as far as I knew. _Did she capture a Pokémon without anyone’s knowledge?_ I had so many questions inside my mind at that precise timing.

* * *

A little over an hour later, the children were looking for us nearby the main entrance. It seems that their homework was done! We were pretty much done with our Hide and Seek tournament as well and without much surprise, Mimey was the winner. He was the one finding us quicker than anyone else. I started to wonder if it’s a good idea to invite Psychic types to play this kind of games.

“ _Pikachu! We should get going!_ ”

“Oh, Ash is calling me.”

“Where are you going?”, I asked.

“We need to pass again by Celadon City, this time for an errand for Professor Cerise.”, Pikachu explained.

“Goh also wants to restock himself with Poké Balls and other medicines for Pokémon.”, Raboot added.

“ _Raboot! It’s time!_ ”, his Trained called him from afar.

“We need to go now, Pikachu.”, the Rabbit Pokémon told to his yellow friend.

“We’re joining Ash and Goh soon! And you’ll return home, right guys?”

“Yes, it’s getting late and I’m sure Hope will want settle down at home now.”, I confirmed.

“I don’t want to go home, it was getting fun…”, regretted Toxtricity.

“Sorry, Toxtricity! The playground is over! I’m sure Hope is g-“

“ _Litten! Toxtricity! Let’s return home!_ ”

“See?”

My big baby brother sighed. He played a quick melody on his chest protrusion as he sung to Mimey: “ _~Goodbyeee, Mimey!~_ ”

“Well, I think I‘ll go inside and meditate on my own. Thanks for the play and take care!”

“Goodbye, Mimey! Thank you, us!”

And once we’ve gathered on street exit, the children were also saying goodbye for the day.

“If Ash and Goh hadn’t to get out, I would have stood a little longer but like this I go home, take a good shower and I think I’ll relax for the remaining evening with my Pokémon.”

“Sorry about that, Hope. But we’ve promised this to Professor Cerise since a while.”, explained Goh.

“There’s always other time!”, added Ash in a positive tone.

“Thanks for your help with the math homework!”

“Don’t mention it, Goh! You also ended helping me out with a part of the natural science homework I had to do and that I wasn’t understanding well, so we’re even!”, thanked the red-haired Trainer of ours.

“We’ll not make you lose time.”, rushed Chloe. “Take care you two, don’t do anything dumb.”

“We’ll be ok, Chloe!”, replied Ash. “See you tomorrow!”

“Have a safe return!”, waved Goh as both him and his boyfriend left together with their Pokémon.

“See you tomorrow!”, waved Pikachu along with Raboot to us two.

[“ _~Goooobyyyyyyyyyye, everybody! I’ve got to gooo!~_ ”, reacted Toxtricity as he played and sung that famous music in his chest protrusion.](https://youtu.be/fJ9rUzIMcZQ?t=129)

“Be careful out there!”, I said goodbye to them while waving my paw. My brother did the same before starting to push Hope’s wheelchair to the opposite direction.

“Goodbye, Pikachu! Goodbye, Raboot!”, said Yamper out loud. “ _Now… Home!!_ ”

“Well, I had nothing else to do in the Laboratory anyway so I’ll go home as well.”, commented Chloe once we started walking.

“Chloe, are you sure everything’s alright with you?”

“Huh? What’s making you asking that?”

“You ate few in the afternoon snack.”

“Oh, that? I already told you that I wasn’t really hungry. I’m fine, Hope!”

“I noticed you also ate half of your lunch today.”, observed Hope in frown. “You have been doing this for a few days already, are you sure there’s something you aren’t telling me?”

“I repeat it the necessary times, I’m fine. Stop acting like police, Hope.”

Toxtricity looked to Yamper in wonder, just like me. Yamper just told us normally:

“It’s true she isn’t eating much lately, but I trust in Chloe’s word you know.”

Hope wasn’t one hundred percent convinced with her friend’s response; I could tell that from her eyes of concern. The remaining path, before Chloe and Yamper separated from us to reach their home, was dominated by an awkward silence only interrupted by a mutual “See you soon.”. Once we were back on our habitation and Toxtricity had helped Hope to sit in her bathtub for her shower, we could tell that she we quite troubled for the bordeau-coloured hair lass’ cold response. “ _Something is definitely not right._ ”, Hope commented to herself while washing her hair.

“That wasn’t nice from her…”, opined my brother while scratching his cheek. “Isn’t how she would normally talk to Ash?”

“You said it well: _normally._ I’m confused too because Chloe has never been this rough with Hope.”

“Maybe she’s just in bad mood? _We all have our days…_ ”

“Do you know what’s even weirder? Chloe refusing to come to our house for almost a week.”

“ _Is it because of me?!_ _Did I scare her?! Did I play a music she didn’t like?!?!_ ”

“No, you silly purple Pokébean! There’s nothing wrong about you! Just like Hope said, something is just not right. I agree with her.”

“But what could it be troubling Chloe?”

We hummed in thoughts. Both of us couldn’t reach a conclusion. The remaining evening was very peaceful, dining the leftovers of yesterday’s meal and watching a movie before heading to our sleeping spots. Toxtricity had never seen that movie of the Carracosta Quartet that fights against a highly-trained Bisharp, leaded by an evil Reuniclus and seeing his reactions were pretty cute, I’ve got to admit it. I swear he has got an amazing memory when it comes about sounds. In just a single listen, he knows the movie’s _entire script by heart_. The same thing applies to memorize the soundtrack! Hope had realized this talent of this Galarian Pokémon and once she trained him to learn the Morse code!! How cool is this?! She was so proud of this achievement that she one day put it to evidence during one of the latest visits to the Cerise Laboratory, making Chloe’s father as excited as a caveman discovering fire for the first time. Goh was like a Professor Cerise _Number Two_ , the way he made noises as he was recording everything on his phone, _haha!!_ Chloe didn’t seem much impressed by it. “That was interesting.”, that’s everything she said back then. She wasn’t impressed, but we weren’t impressed with her lack of effusive feedback as well. In one of the latest meetings between the girls’ parents, Talia, Chloe’s mother, was satisfied to know that her daughter was acting more cheerfully since she started to talk regularly with Hope. As for my Trainer’s parents, they also noted the same fact in our side. A while back, Hope was really depressed. Meeting the people of the Cerise Laboratory had greatly improved her state of mind and the socializing aspect likewise. And seeing Hope looking down again… it’s difficult. Our Trainer didn’t interact much more. She ate supper, brushed her teeth and went to sleep. The day after it would be another busy morning at school.

* * *

Chloe once again hadn’t eaten half of her lunch, making Hope a little upset. The green-eyed girl pretended to not care about Hope’s look of disapproval. I kept sighing seeing all of that in the tree branches, with my brother [playing other song, singing the whole refrain of it: “ _~Heeeeey! Yeeeeaaaaaaaah yeeeeaaaaaaaaaah! Heeeeey, yeeeeaaaah yeeaaah, I said heeeeey!!! What's going on?!~_ ”.](https://youtu.be/6NXnxTNIWkc?t=202) The same scenario repeated this afternoon with the snack. Goh was not understanding what was going on, he was clearly disturbed to see both girls angry after each other. Chloe was even rougher with Ash, who was even noticing that the atmosphere was pretty awkward.

“Chloe, are you done eating?... Could I have your leftovers?”

“ _For Arceus sake, Ash._ How many stomachs do you have, _seven_? What’s next? Stealing all food from the fridge at night? At this rate you’re better to get a locker on the fridge to not let everyone starve.”

“Whoa, Chloe…”, blinked quickly the cap-wearing boy in awkwardness for the dry response. Goh didn’t like it.

“What’s wrong with you, lately?!”, the blue-eyed lad asked while slamming his hand over the table. “You’re insupportable since this morning!”

“It’s not your business, Goh.”

“ _”It’s not your business, Goh”_?!”, he repeated Chloe’s words, offended. “I’m your friend!! I have all the right to know what’s happening with you!!!”

“Look, I just slept badly, ok?! I’m not sick or anything, stop persisting with your questions. You’re making me madder that way. No more questions from now on. Did you understand me?”

Goh huffed in annoyance, sitting down again and deciding to distract himself on the Rotom Phone. Ash was very constrained. So did Pikachu, Yamper and Raboot. The latter had commented to us Pokémon:

“I know how it feels to not sleep enough and having no patience for anything.”

“Raboot, that doesn’t give any rights to Chloe to be rude with Ash.”, opined Pikachu.

“ _Whatever…_ ”

“Yamper?”, I asked to Chloe’s Pokémon. “Is it true she slept badly tonight?”

“Oh, yes. She did… and I think it was partially my fault.”

“Huh? What do you mean with that?”, asked my brother, as attentive to the talk like the remaining Pokémon.

“During dinner, Chloe had an argue with her family. They were talking about the future again. And Parker was insisting that she should become a writer. Since he found out some poems in her desk, he keeps talking about them, saying she should publish a book one day. Her parents were supportive with the idea, but from a moment to other she got really mad and left the kitchen. Everyone was shocked!”

We were stunned, listening to Yamper’s reconstitution of the facts. The canine kept talking:

“I followed her because I was obviously worried, and feeling she was very unsecure. But she closed me the door and I couldn’t enter inside… I kept calling her but it was useless. So, I returned to the kitchen. Her family finished to eat and they also tried to reach her out but she didn’t open the door. Chloe also didn’t talk to them. They were really worried for her… Her mother, however, kept the food on table in case she would want to finish it. And they went all to bed. I stood in the living room, sleeping. That’s when something strange had happened… It was late night, and I saw Chloe sneaking to the kitchen, taking the food away from the table. She was returning to her bedroom. I stealthily followed her inside. And to my surprise, she had her window opened and handing over a plastic recipient with her dinner leftovers to a big bird I have never seen before!! I started to shout to it to go away and I gave a scare to Chloe. She was upset after me, telling me to stop.”

“A bird?!”, we all exclaimed. I gave a step forward and asked:

“Hold on, Yamper!! You said she was interacting with a bird?! How did he look like?! Was it dark blue, magenta and white?!?!

“Yes, he was!!”

“ _Whaaat?!?!_ ”

“Litten?!”, asked Raboot in astonishment for my reaction.

“What is it, little-big sister?!”, questioned Toxtricity next.

“I-I saw him yesterday afternoon when we were playing Hide and Seek!!”

“You did?!”, exclaimed Pikachu. “Where was he?! I didn’t see anyone besides us!”

“Behind the building, when it was Raboot’s turn to look for everyone. I did observe Chloe handing over a box to him but I didn’t see what was inside. If Yamper says he saw food tonight, then… did she hand over her lunch and afternoon snack leftovers to that Swellow during the Hide and Seek game?!”

“A Swellow?! That’s a Pokémon from Hoenn region!”, observed Ash’s Pokémon. “What is he doing in here?!”

“If you want to know my opinion, my friends…”, spoke Mimey to the group, lifting his arm and making a shady look “ _Chloe must be being blackmailed by Swellow!_ ”

“ _Y-You can’t be real!!_ ”, interjected Yamper in shock.

“ _Have you thought about it? I remember listening to the recent conversations. Chloe hasn’t been eating enough for the latest days, correct? She has been always leaving some food behind to secretly give it away to the Flying-type. Swellow aren’t from these lands, so it can only mean one thing… He’s got a Trainer!_ ”

“ _A-Are you telling us that a person is keeping an eye on the girl?!_ ”, I anxiously asked, disliking Mimey’s point of view.

“ _Perhaps…_ ”

We obviously couldn’t settle down after listening to that. [We glared to Toxtricity because he was playing a song while Mimey was exposing his theory.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bVudj_t7Hk) Realizing we were bothered, he shyly stopped to play.

“ _Oooor,_ Chloe is just being solidary and feeding the Pokémon to prevent starvation.”, he tried to assure us in a positivist pitch.

We gave a relief sigh, we wanted to believe more in the second option. Chloe had just gotten up and dumped the snack over another plastic box. Hope was tensely tapping her fingers as she observed the pigtailed girl doing that. “I’ll be back.”, Chloe said before leaving the division. Ash naively asked our red-eyed Trainer:

“Are you upset after each other?”

“To be honest, I do not even know, Ash.”, replied Hope. “I’m telling you, Chloe is acting _very weirdly_ lately. I’m sure she must be hiding a secret to everyone. What’s bothering me is that she didn’t tell me anything.”

“Chloe was never the kind of person to open a lot to other people.”, criticized Goh without taking of his eyes from the screen.

“Goh, I guarantee you that’s not true.”, reassured our Trainer. “Since I started to talk with Chloe, she had told me a lot of things already. Keep this for yourself, but she admitted she’s telling much more things to me than to you; but you aren’t supposed to know about it.”

“Oh? Is that so? I’ll pretend I know nothing, that’s ok.”

“I’ll do the same thing as Goh. My lips are closed!”

“ _…What kind of things does she tells you?_ ”

“Sorry, that’s girls talk!”, Hope said while sticking out her tongue and giving a wink.

The boys blinked their eyes, tilting their heads a little in mystery. This made Hope giggle and let out a compliment:

“…I already told this to you before, but you two are really cute together! Chloe has told me about most of your adventures you’ve had in your researching duties. Is it true you’ve both met each other in the back of a roaming Lugia at the exact same time? That’s the best love story I’ve ever heard!!”

Both Ash and Goh hummed in surprise, blushing furiously. They also giggled while scratching either their cheek or nape, respectively. “ _T-Thank you, Hope!_ ”, they said at the same time. “Yes, it’s true! We met each other on a Lugia!”

“I swear I will write a song about you two one of these days because your relationship is an inspiration!”

I agree with Hope, those boyfriends are something out of this world and their story should be immortalized in a song. Before the boys could react or say something else, Toxtricity did a question:

“Where’s Mimey? He was right here before…”  
  
“Yamper isn’t here either.”, observed Raboot.

And that’s when a very loud noise was coming from the first floor. It alerted everyone in the division.

“CHLOE?!”, yelled Hope. “I listen to Yamper barking!!”

She was right! We could hear Yamper yelling a “ _Get out of here!!!_ ”.  
  
“She needs help!!”, spoke Toxtricity, running towards the stairs.

“Wait up!!”, I followed my brother, worried about what could be happening in the first floor.

“Chloe?!”, shouted Goh in alert. “Ash, let’s follow the Pokémon!”

“Right!!”, he replied in agreement. “Wait here, Hope!!”

Even the adults were alarmed with the mysterious noises coming out from where Chloe, Mimey and Yamper were. Unfortunately, Hope was the only one who stood in the bottom floor, greatly concerned.

“Chloe?! What’s happening?!?!”, asked her nervous father after reaching the entrance of his office.

“STOP IT! YAMPER! MIMEY!!!”, she was desperately shouting towards the Pokémon. They were both attacking the Swellow that has been the latest subject of talk, he was flying to every corner of the room, knocking away all sorts objects as he tried to protect himself.

“IT’S YOUR FAULT THAT CHLOE ISN’T EATING WELL LATELY!”, shouted the furious Yamper.

“LEAVE THIS ROOM RIGHT NOW OR ELSE I’LL BE MERCILESS!”, threatned Mimey.

“STOP ATTACKING ME, YOU’RE SCARING CHLOE!!”, begged the desperate Swellow.

“FOCUS PUNCH!”, yelled Mimey, performing the move. Swellow avoided it by using Double Team, impressing everyone that was witnessing the chaos. The bird had skillfully snagged the fabric bag that contained the box I’ve seen earlier and flew out of the window, escaping. Professor Cerise went close to his daughter right after and asked nervously: “Are you alright?!”. The girl just nodded. But she wasn’t really happy. She looked she was about to cry, but Chloe tried to make a great effort to not show that. And I wasn’t the only one realizing the box theft. Goh and Ash did as well. “ _We have things to talk to Hope._ ”, he whispered to Ash’s ear. His boyfriend nodded in agreement.

Once the mess was cleaned thanks to Mimey’s Psychic move, the boys took advantage that the adults were talking privately to Chloe in order to explain Hope what happened in the Director’s Office. The girl got intrigued:

“She’s feeding a Swellow? I didn’t know about it! _That could explain why she isn’t eating enough lately…_ But, why is she hiding this from everyone? It doesn’t make sense to me.”

“We aren’t sure if it’s really for the Swellow.”, observed Goh, with a hand in front of his mouth. “If it was the case, she would hand over the food straight away, not closing it in a box and leaving with it.”

“That’s a good point.”, said Ash. “Then could this mean that the food is for someone else?”

“ _But who?_ Who is Swellow delivering the food to?”, asked Hope.

Chloe’s appearance interrupted the talk. Everyone looked to the girl, who had a compress wrapped up on her left leg. She was wounded in the middle of that ruckus. Chrysa was placing a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“You were lucky that Yamper and Mr. Mime were around, or else it could have been worse. Don’t let other Pokémon enter in the institute without our permission.”

Chloe just nodded. She looked very sad. The girl was able to walk normally. She went towards the main hall’s door and grabbed the door knob.

“Chloe?... Where are you going?”, asked Hope.

“ _I’m returning home. I need to be alone for a little. See you tomorrow._ ”

“ _Sorry, everyone…_ ”, apologized Yamper in regret. He followed his Trainer and the door was shut.

“Chrysa? What was that in Chloe’s leg?”

“A cut, but it will heal quickly.”, explained Chrysa to Ash. “Chloe explained it was a heavy book that had fallen from a shelf and caught her leg. I’m surprised she let a wild Pokémon enter in the Laboratory, it doesn’t seem like her…”

* * *

We kept thinking about this for the rest of the day. Once again, Hope hadn’t other subject going on her mind other than trying to understand what have altered Chloe’s behavior lately. The music the girl was listening at night, were all soundtracks of investigation movies. But she didn’t comment anything to us two. The next morning, we noticed one thing before letting Hope cross the school’s gate. She had received a text message from the pigtailed friend. “ _I’m sorry but today I don’t feel good and I’m not going to school. Don’t look for me, we can talk better tomorrow in the lunch break. Have a good day, Hope._ ”, our Trainer read it out loud in disappointment.

Once she went inside the building, Toxtricity turned to me and said:

“Sis, maybe we should help out some way to solve this mystery. Hope hasn’t been happy lately.”

“I agree, but… What can we do if Chloe is not going to tell us anything?”

“She might not tell us… But Swellow can! She’s not going to school today so that means he’ll probably visit her again! If that happens, I use my Overdrive move to weaken him and force him to talk and tell us everything he knows!”

“Th-That’s a brilliant idea, Toxtricity!! I wasn’t thinking about it!! You’re a strong Electric-type and that’s a great advantage towards a Flying-type! We should get going then!”

“Right after you!”

We had a full morning to investigate so we lost no time to look for Chloe’s house. That took about twenty minutes. Toxtricity used his big hand to press the doorbell button but nothing had happened.

“Strange, didn’t she listen to the door?”

“Maybe I need to press again, she could be sleeping again...”

Second attempt. No response. I frowned and commented:

“ _If that’s the case, she sleeps as tightly as Ash after a make out session of kisses performed by Goh…_ ”

“ _Hush, sis!_ ”

“ _Hush?... Hey!!_ ”

“ _No, I really mean it!... Silence…_ ”

I wasn’t understanding my brother’s request. He then warned me: “Yamper is trapped inside the house!”

“Trapped?! How can you be trapped inside your own house?!”

Toxtricity moved away to look for a window. There was one that was very slightly opened, but it was a little too high for my brother to climb it in safety.

“Little-big sister, can you reach that window over there? If you open it, you can go inside and talk to Yamper!”

“I-It’s pretty tight but I think I can handle… _Afterall I did more dangerous stuff in Alola._ ”

“Be careful, sis!”

And so, I‘ve grabbed my four paws onto the walls and tried to climb the best way I could on my way to the top. [Things could be a little easier if Toxtricity didn’t decide to play “Spy & Sniper”’s main theme with his chest protrusion.](https://youtu.be/XAYhNHhxN0A?t=23) “IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO CONCENTRATE WITH SO MUCH MUSIC, TOXTRICITY!”, I screamed to him. He stopped to play upon listening to my statement. With some extra effort, I somehow managed to enter in the said window. Yamper heard me and he went to see me in a rush: “ _Litten, Litten!!_ Chloe left home!!”

“Left home?! Did she change her mind and went to school?”

“ _No, no!_ She left her schoolbag on the desk! Chloe only left with a fabric bag and nothing else. I wanted to follow her but she insisted I would stay here!!”

“Oh my!”, I exclaimed in surprise. “In that case we need to look for her! She probably went to see the Swellow!! Quick, Yamper! Jump this window!”

“Jumping?! I’m a Yamper, not a Litten like you!!”

“Toxtricity is down there, he’ll catch you!”

And so, he did it. Yamper gave a leap out of the window and Toxtricity caught him, placing the small Pokémon on the floor in safety. I did the same thing. We briefly explained the Punk Pokémon what was going on and he immediately threw out a suggestion:

“Yamper! Can you track the scents of people, like in those investigation movies and such? Can you do that? To find Chloe?”

“Of course! That’s what I was about to do!”, he said as he sniffed the ground. “This way!”

“That was quick, let’s go!”, I commented while following the small Galarian Pokémon.

We probably walked a little over twenty minutes, following the Puppy Pokémon and trusting in his smelling capability. The place where Yamper had decided to lift his head was quite remote from the center of Vermilion City. “She’s nearby.”, he said in frown. Definitely not a place I‘ve visited before because of being far from home and the streets being rather old. I don’t think that any child would be wise either deciding to go for a walk in such strange place. Toxtricity was concerned about my safety and because of that he picked me up without further warning and placed me on his right shoulder. “Just in case.”, he told me in a serious pitch. Although my brother seems to be very chill, he completely loses that aspect if either Hope or me are under threat. Toxtricity has no battling experience but the few moments we’ve seen him using moves, he is very, _very_ strong!

“She’s inside this door! CHLOEEE!”

Toxtricity grabbed his electrical organ and picked him up, observing in silence the canine’s quick feet moving frenetically in the air. Once Yamper realized what was going on he stopped and looked to my brother in confusion. He explained him:

“You’re a small Pokémon like my sister. I think you should stay behind me. I don’t want anything bad to happen to both of you.”

“I can deal this alone!”

“Yamper, I think you should listen to my brother. I also would explore on my own but… he’s very overprotective towards people and Pokémon he likes!”

“Alright… I hope Chloe is ok…”

“POISON JA-“

“HOLD ON!!!”

“ _Eh?_ What is it, little-big sister?”

“…Before you create a ruckus in this neighborhood try twisting the doorknob first!!”

“Oh?.......... _Oh…… Yes._ That works too!”

Both me and Yamper gave a relief sigh. Good thing the door could be easily opened without the need of imitating those movie stars from action movies, I know that Toxtricity was very tempted to mimic that behaviour! There was a very tight corridor and a staircase that leaded to a first floor. I’ve never seen such tight walls before. If Hope’s wheelchair fits here, it’s by a scratch. Us three carefully climbed up, trying to not make a single noise. Eventually, we started to listen to a man talk. Yamper was becoming anxious, fearing his Trainer was being threatened or something but Toxtricity insisted to stay calm because he would check out behind the door’s small opening to see what was going on. I was already on the floor. The Galarian Pokémon made us a hand signal to invite us checking out under his body, through the same opening, as far we would stay silent.

And it was a surprise what we were observing. Chloe seemed to be writing something on an old wooden and weary desk. The girl was completely normal. There was no signs of mistreating or sadness, or that she was being forced to do something against her own will. Side to her, there was an old man, dressed rather nicely although his clothes were very weary. Black blazer, trousers of the same colour, brown coloured shammy leather with the soles gluing out a little, and a light purple shirt under. The same colour as the neckerchief he was wearing around his neck. The grey-haired and wrinkled man, I could see he couldn’t be from Kanto, nor from any nearby region. Especially after listening to his unique accent. What was interesting was his haircut being very similar to the feathers of a Swellow’s head. In fact, he carried a pin of the shape of that Pokémon on his blazer. The very same one that was roosting nearby the window, eating a meal from a cracked plate.

“Have you finished?”

“I did.”, the girl replied and handed over the paper to the mysterious man. He read it with his tired eyes and smiled, patting Chloe’s head.

“You’re getting much better at this, Chloe. Well done. Is there anything else I can help you with the lessons?”

The girl packed everything and bowed in front of the mister.

“For now, all doubts are clear. Thank you very much, Mr. César!”

“It wasn’t a problem for me! I really appreciate your visits. And the food you’ve been kindly donating us.”

“I’m sorry once again for what happened with Swellow yesterday…”

Everyone’s attentions turned towards the Flying-type, who had a small wound on a wing. Yamper felt a little bad seeing that. And even more for seeing his Trainer commenting about something that he was partially responsible for and that this was troubling her.

“Swellow has seen worst scenarios when he was a Taillow, and what we were fighting in the army of our region, a long time ago. Much, much before your parents were even born.”, the man explained with serenity. “He’ll recover in no time. Those berries are quite nutritive.”

The girl approached the wounded bird, and cautiously pet his head. Swellow smiled, appreciating the gesture. Us three looked to each other in amazement. However, we had to leave that instant before we would be found out. Chloe was about to leave soon and we didn’t want to make things complicated for either Yamper or Hope. Stealthily, we left the small apartment and we helped Yamper to go back inside home to not rise suspicions. How did he climb up, you wonder? Let’s say that Toxtricity tried the hammer throw, _haha!!_ We heard something breaking but Yamper assured that everything was alright! Us two, we returned to the trees of Hope’s school to wait for her classes to be done and the girl coming to the gate. Once our eyes have crossed, Toxtricity vigorously picked up the wheelchair’s handles and ran like crazy back home. “ _TOXTRICITY!?!??!_ ”, she screamed the whole way. My brother still has got a long way to be able to control his excessive strength because Hope fell on her bed when we arrived to the bedroom and did an abrupt stop at the entrance with the chair. 

“ _Guys, what was that race since school?!_ ”, she asked in great disturbance while adjusting herself to be sat correctly on the mattress.

“Hope!! You need to listen to us!!”, I begged.

“It’s about Chloe!! We’ve seen things!!”, Toxtricity spoke to our Trainer as well.

“I don’t understand what you’re both trying to tell me, you seem very nervous about something…”, she told us with constraint.

Suddenly an idea had flashed in my mind. I turned to my big baby brother and suggested him:

“Toxtricity! I have an idea that can help Hope understanding what we’ve seen this morning!! Try thinking in every kind of music you’ve heard before and play samples to her!”

His eyes illuminated themselves, enthusiastic with the idea. He observed: “If Hope recognizes the songs, she’ll understand us!! That’s so cool, sis!!! I’ll try out now!”.

And my brother took no time putting the idea into practice. Masterfully playing out tunes on his chest protrusion, he did it while singing with the greatest accuracy possible. For humans, Toxtricity’s words might sound like babbling random noises. But those noises were being done on the same way as singing humans proclaim their corresponding song lyrics. At first our Trainer looked to us with weirdness as she used her arms to move around the bedroom. A while after, Hope stopped while hanging herself on the desk and looked to us intrigued.

“ _Hang on…………._ Toxtricity…?”

“Keep singing, brother!!”

The red-haired girl pointed to us and begun to sing-along the lyrics of the samples.

“ _~Strange encounters~… ~your best friend~~… ~alone~~… ~escape from home~… ~travel far~… ~outskirts~!! ~Wise man!!~ ~flying Swellow~_!!! ”

She gasped. We succeeded! Hope is a very smart girl and she understood we tried to pass a message. We did a high five! The girl immediately made herself sit down on her desk, pick up a paper, a pen and write something fast. Hope had bent the paper and placed it inside an envelope, closing it. Afterwards, she leaned herself towards me with the closed manuscript.

“Litten, please take this letter immediately to Cerise Laboratory. It’s for Ash and Goh. Any of them can read it. Just make sure nobody else does.”

“Sounds like a mission for you, sis! Groovy!”

“You’ve guessed it right, my brother! Sure, Hope! I’ll hand over the letter!”

I cautiously held it with my mouth and went out of Hope’s window, running towards the institute. I felt very important at this point, yet wondering why Hope hadn’t exchanged phone numbers with the boys before. This effort of mine would be unnecessary if she had done it already! I arrived the building in no time. Now the challenge would be understanding where they could be, without calling the attention from the adults. I checked around the surroundings and there were no signs of anyone to be there. That’s what I had thought.

“Litten?”

“AAAH! MIMEY!! WHAT A SCARE!!”

“Relax, it’s just me! You’re alone today?”

“Yeah! Listen, where’s Ash?! Or Goh?! It’s an urgency!!”

“The boys? They’re in Cerise Park, that annex over there. They must be finishing to take care of the Pokémon insid- _Oh, there they are!_ You appeared in a good time, Litten!”

“Excellent!”

“What’s the hurry though?!”

“I’LL TELL YOU LATER!”, I told Mimey while running towards the boys.

“Hey, look, Pikachu!”, Raboot commented afar.

“It’s Litten! Hello, Litten!!”, greeted the easy-going electric mouse.

“Hello guys! This letter is for your Trainers! It’s from Hope!!”

“Hope?”, they both wondered. The boys realized my presence and how much I was panting.

“Oh, hey there, Litten!”, told me Ash, “What’s up?... Huh?”

“A letter?”, questioned Goh, realizing the same thing as his boyfriend once he took it off from my mouth. The cap-wearing boy started to read it out loud:

_“To my friends, Ash and Goh._

_I need you two to come to my house the soonest possible. It’s urgent. It’s about Chloe. Keep it secret from the adults for now, I’ll discuss the details once you’re here with Litten._

_– Hope”_

“Did she find something?”, wondered the sweatshirt lad.

“If it’s urgent we should visit her right now!”

“I agree, we’re free right now!”

“Great, then follow me you all!”, I told to both the Pokémon and their Trainers.

Hope waited for the boys to sit down in the living room’s sofa before she would tell them the information we had found in this morning.

“Nobody else is at home so we can talk freely this way.”, Hope observed. “Chloe is interacting with a stranger lately.”

“A stranger?!”, exclaimed Goh out of shock.

“Really, Hope?! Where?! How do you know about this?!”

“I just learnt this information thanks to my Pokémon, mostly Toxtricity. It seems they went to look for Chloe while I was at school because she skipped it today, messaging me she wouldn’t come.”

“C-Can I see the message?”

“Sure.”

Hope handed over her phone to Goh, who confirmed it was true. He gave it back and asked with great discomfort: “Why would she talk to a stranger?!”

“Toxtricity told me that Chloe was fine and she was writing up something under his supervision. The Swellow that you guys saw yesterday is the same one that was in the apartment and he seems to get along with her. She’s been handing over food for both that man and Swellow.”

“Are you saying that Chloe is actually helping out a man to not be hungry? And his Swellow too?”

Toxtricity nodded in affirmation to the thoughts of Ash. It followed a moment of pause.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this… Why she’s not telling everyone about it?”

“I also have no idea, Ash. When I thought that Chloe could count on me for any subject of talk, she does this… I now feel sorry for being harsh with her for the fact she wasn’t eating much lately…”

“This could explain why she was often absenting from you, from all of us, and avoiding to go to your house, Hope.”, noted Goh.

“Was Yamper with her?”, asked Raboot to my brother.

“He was closed at home. We actually had his help to track her location once Litten opened the window to release him. He saw what we saw this morning.”

“For now, I don’t want to tell this to the adults with fear of making things worse. I don’t know how they or Chloe could react. Toxtricity assured me that the man wasn’t harming her or anything. But… I don’t really know what to do…”

“Hope, I think you could talk with her.”, suggested Goh. “We noticed that both you and her get along much better than any of us, even I. If it’s me asking she’ll probably get mad. With Ash it would be even worse.”

“I agree with Goh. We’re worried about her and you’re the best person that can talk to her and see if she explains what’s happening.”

“If Chloe opens herself up to you, it would be the best. Or else we’ll have no choice other than explaining this to Professor Cerise and the others.”

“You’re both right, boys. I knew I could count on you for this talk. Thank you, really!”

“No problem at all, Hope!”, assured Ash in a lighter mood, “When are you going to talk with her?”.

“I could make a video call right now if I wanted but I think I prefer to wait for tomorrow after returning from school. Chloe did say she would come and if she does, we’ll be in the Laboratory.”

“We should be around, right, Goh?”

“Yes. It’s only in the afternoon of the day after that we’ll be away again for a research.”

“Good, it’s better this way.”

* * *

And that was the plan. Chloe did appear in the next morning to go to school but Hope never brought the subject to the surface during that interval of time. She neither asked her about the skipped day. That was reserved for the afternoon snack and when the adults wouldn’t be nearby. We waited and that opportunity had surfaced. Hope didn’t lose time:

“Chloe? We need to talk.”

“About what?”

“Don’t make us look as oblivious as Slowpoke. We know you’re secretly seeing Swellow’s Trainer.”

The pigtailed girl had let her plate fall out of startlement. Everyone lifted their eyebrows.

“Don’t touch! I take care of this.”, I heard Mimey saying as he used his Psychic move to remove the scattered broken ceramics.

“Who is he, Chloe?!”, asked Hope in a more severe voice pitch. “ _Is he blackmailing you?!_ We’re all worried for Tapu Bulu’s sake!!!”

“Chloe?”, asked Goh in a cautious tone.

“I know you don’t trust me much but I also wouldn’t want anyone to harm you. Please tell us what’s going on… At least for Hope and Goh.”, added Ash in concern.

The girl didn’t show her face. She knew she was the center of attention and that her cape was uncovered. The green-eyed girl had finally decided to tell what was going on for the latest days and the reason for all this secret behaviour. Her voice was uneven, clearly due to stress:

“ _It all started nearly four weeks ago._ Before Hope started to come to school. I was taking the old route as it was quicker to go from home to the lessons and so on. One afternoon, I found a foreign man of an advanced age with his loyal Swellow by his side, standing up on the footstep, declaiming poems. His Pokémon carried a cap on his beak. It contained few coins. I ignored at first, thinking he was a random homeless man but the more days passed I realized he was always there, at the same hour. Reciting a different poem, none was equal. And all very pretty, somehow melancholic. The few days I was returning later, almost at evening, he wasn’t declaiming poems. He waved to the cars that passed nearby, saying “Hello!”. It felt weird to me seeing that every time. And in one afternoon where I was about to return home, I stopped to finish to listen to a poem he was declaiming that time. It was about a child that wore a dress, had green eyes, her hair was bordeau-coloured and loved flowers. It felt like it was about me, although I knew it couldn’t be. _I can’t explain what I felt but… I was moved._ I decided to talk to him. And his eyes… _opened so much._ It’s like he had found a happiness that was lost for a very long time! Even his Swellow wasn’t taking his eyes away from me. “ _It’s the first time in twenty years that someone has spoken to me._ ”, he told me. ““ _And you look exactly like my daughter. Is it you, Maria?!_ ”.”

We were completely quiet, both our Trainers and Pokémon, listening to Chloe’s explanation and the story of that man. Hope had relaxed her arms, sitting down again on the wheelchair with a more moderate approach. Yamper’s Trainer had turned to us, continuing the reconstitution of the story:

“I had to explain I wasn’t that girl. I was just Chloe. Chloe Cerise. He felt disappointed, and even wondered if the ghosts of the past were pranking on him again. He presented himself. His name was César, and he was born from a very distant region from Kanto. It was rather close to Galar and Kalos. His only friend was Taillow. According to César, Taillow and Swellow are common Pokémon in his region during Summer. His wife was from Kanto. They have met each other during a war he had to battle in Kalos in military duty and have fallen in love. Mr. César was writing many letters and poems to her. He had promised her that once the war would be over, he would purpose her for marriage. And they did get married and had a child, Maria. He showed me a photo and I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was very, _very similar_ with her. _It was like if I was her twin sister, you see?_ ”

“Where’s his family right now?...”, asked Goh in apprehension.

Chloe did a downcast look, toning more down her voice in regret:

“ _…They passed away since many years._ ”, she explained making the others gasping a little of shock. “ _His daughter from a breathing illness, Maria had the same age as I did. And his wife of old age, twenty years ago……._ Since then, César had stopped to eat, to write, to talk to people… _He self-isolated from the world._ At a point, he thought it was for the best to move to Kanto with his Pokémon to know the birthland of his long-gone wife. He told me that once he arrived here, his passion for writing had returned and decided to focus in poetry once again. It worked well for a few years until the book editor he worked with closed. He nevermore managed to find a job, and both him and his Pokémon started to pass hunger. Before he explained me this, he nearly fainted at my front. Swellow carried him and I to their apartment and I decided to go to the closest supermarket and buy some food for him and Swellow for the moment, dinner and few things to cook for two days. _He cried so much. I never saw anything like it…_ He wanted to thank me for my attention and insisted in helping me out with the Japanese class homework.”

“ _…So the text I read the other day…_ ”, commented Hope in realization.

Chloe nodded, confirming her observation: “It was César that wrote it almost entirely. I had a lot of help with it.”

“ _That’s very nice from him…_ He’s talented.”, noted Ash.

“I agree. I found piles and piles of poems in his apartment. He declaimed a few of them to me, they’re all beautiful. He had written many more about his family, his land, the war, and other more casual themes. He confessed that writing made him feel less lonely, although waving to the cars at night had the same comforting feeling to him.”

“ _Chloe… What you’ve been doing is really nice of you._ ”, complimented Goh. “Why didn’t you tell us about this before? We wouldn’t have judged your actions.”

“Because Mr. César asked me.”

“Huh?”, wondered Ash.

“Why? That sir really needs help!”, spoke Hope in worry.

“For shame. For both shame and fear. He highly regrets to have stolen food in some local markets and establishments with Swellow’s help in order to survive. Apparently, the police are looking for him. And if they arrest him, it will force him to separate from Swellow and they’ll nevermore see each other again. César assured me that he would rather perish of starvation than separating himself from Swellow.”

Nobody commented anything about this. In fact, what else there was to say? César’s situation was a double-edged knife. But it was clear to everyone that this man loved his Pokémon more than his own life. It was his only friend in the whole world and his only family member left.

“Swellow is very loyal to Mr. César. He only leaves to find food, but he struggles to find enough for both him and his Trainer. Mr. César always insists to make Swellow eat the meal when it isn’t enough for both.”

“ _He’s a very caring Trainer…_ ”, complimented Ash, moved with Chloe’s explanation.

“ _And besides… I think his Pokémon really likes me. He told me that he loved to play with Maria when she was little. And Maria loved Pokémon in general…_ ”

The speech was interrupted by Ren coming to the meal room to pick up a bottle of water from the fridge.

“Is everything alright, kids?”

“ _I-It is!!_ We were just talking.”, assured Chloe, trying to act normal.

“Oh? About what, if I may know?” happily wondered the blond staff member, sipping a little of water.

“ _About Slowpoke!!!_ ”, tried to help out Ash, lifting his voice, surprising everyone especially Chloe.

“ _Y-Yeah!!_ About their hierarchy and other types of rituals!! It’s really interesting how they look for partners upon evolution!”, continued Goh with the false explanation. But that somehow convinced Ren.

“You two got really interested about the Slowpoke you’ve found in that remote island the other day, didn’t you? There was a resident Slowking in there, wasn’t it? Did you find any Slowbro?”

“ _No, we didn’t!_ ”, both replied in choir.

“Then that’s because the leading Slowking hasn’t chosen a mate yet. Did you know that they hand over a Shellder to a Slowpoke they choose to be their relationship partner? It works like a wedding proposal! And despite of the popular belief, when any member of Slowpoke’s evolutionary chain chooses a love partner it’s for the lifetime! They’ll stay together until one of them reaches the end of its life. Pokémon are surely fascinating, aren’t they? I would talk more but I need to continue my work in the computer.”

And Ren had left the division. Chloe was relieved that her friends managed to cover the real subject of talk. Hope’s face also showed an appreciation for that attitude of theirs. But the boys were blushing furiously and avoiding visual contact. Ash was pulling his cap downwards and Goh was pulling his sweatshirt collar upwards to cover his eyes. Toxtricity, Hope, Chloe, Yamper and I weren’t understanding what was happening right now.

“ _Did something happen in that island?_ ”, I naively asked to Pikachu and Raboot.

“Oh, Litten, _if you knew…!”_ , laughed Pikachu.

“ _Not again this talk…_ ”, groaned Raboot as he rolled the eyes out.

“Raboot’s complaining so it’s got to be good!! _Tell me, tell me!_ ”

“ _Don’t do it, Pikachu!!_ ”

Pikachu ignored Raboot’s request and the red-cheeks Pokémon described me about that adventure in particular. And from what I could tell it happened very recently. And I cracked myself up!! _HAA!!!_ I was rolling on the floor in _tears_ , making my brother laugh ever more, and [play an atmospheric song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxDqko71k5U). Yamper wiggled its tail with the same speed of a Cutiefly’s wing flap and with a really wide smile on his face. “ _That day was just weird, there was nothing funny about it…_ ”, vented out Raboot. Hope realized that we had lost control of our sanity and she started to wonder, smirking mischievously to the embarrassed couple:

 _“_ ~ _Whaaat happened in that islaaaand?~”_

“ _…I’m going to the bathroom!_ ”, said Goh as he sprinted out of the room.

“ _…Me too!!!_ ”, Ash told her right after, following his boyfriend in an eye-blink.

Chloe sighed, with a bothered state of spirit: “ _Hope, sometimes there are questions better to leave unanswered…_ ”

My Trainer chuckled after listening to Chloe’s comment, both left clueless about what had happened in that hot day with the colony of Dopey Pokémon. I surely missed something!

* * *

Another day had come to an end. Hope was more relieved to see that her friend had finally exposed her secret to our group. She really thought that Chloe was getting ill and refusing to be helped out for pity. In the end, she was just helping out a foreigner that used to have a child who looked very much alike Cerise’s daughter. But for how long was the green-eyed girl deciding to do this without the knowledge of her family? While the intention is very good, she couldn’t keep this secret forever. That was my personal opinion at least even though I’m just a mere Pokémon that enjoys to have Sushi for dinner and watching marathons of television series episodes in my Trainer’s free time. Hope had opined us the same thoughts about the help to Mr. César before she went to sleep. But the girl born at Alola knew that this was important for her friend. As such, she would give her a hand.

The days that followed, Hope surprised the pigtailed lass by also eating just half of her food at lunch and bringing spare fruits in her backpack. And the two girls were visiting César’s apartment whenever possible or together cooperating to hand over food to the visiting Swellow in the Laboratory’s windows without the knowledge of the staff. Swellow had proven to be a very polite Pokémon and fond of our Trainer as well. Yamper and Mimey asked apologies to the bird for the attack of the other day in which he accepted them quite nicely. They were even! And collaborating on the food handover, also sharing their dose. Once the boys were less busy with the researches, they and their Pokémon had joined us for the cause.

There was a weekend the young researchers had the opportunity to meet Mr. César in person for the first time. Acknowledged of the passions of each of them, the grey-haired old man talked about some of his Pokémon battles he did with his Swellow during the war. He also described the biodiversity that existed in his region and the many Pokémon he had interacted with in his youth. The two children were also marveled by some of the poems he had declaimed to them. Even the girls reacted the same way because there wasn’t a single poem repeated. Every citation was new. And Swellow had inherited the same ability of his Trainer. This giant bird enjoyed to talk about his adventures with us Pokémon and telling us a few poems he had made in his own head. The man was everything except threatening or mean. Just a poor foreigner that was fighting solitude through poetry, talking to his Pokémon and waving to the passing cars in the dark streets of Vermilion with a smile, even if it sounds like he’s out of his mind. But since he had met Chloe, his heart had warmed. I can hardly think how it feels to be ignored by human society for twenty years. Children often prove to have more reasoning and compassion than most adults. Mr. César and Swellow’s stomachs had found stability as well. All thanks to the help of everyone in our group, including Mimey. Swellow couldn’t be more thankful for that, he assured us it felt like eternity the last time he had seen his Trainer this joyful. Seeing him this way, replicated similar feelings to the Swallow Pokémon: if his Trainer was happy, the same thing was for the Pokémon.

A dawn, colder than the usual, changed everything abruptly. Swellow appeared on Hope’s window in great despair, alerting me and Toxtricity that his Trainer wasn’t getting up from the bed. Our Trainer wasn’t understanding him but she could tell he didn’t bring happy news. Swellow had already alerted Chloe and that he would search for the boys. Hope had already their phone contacts and decided to message everyone to meet up at the hidden street of the outskirts of Vermilion. In no time we were all there, to find a very weakened Mr. César.

“ _He has no fever…_ ”, commented Goh who had observed the thermometer’s result.

“Mr. César, you need to eat! You aren’t touching on it for two days!”, said Chloe in great worry, noticing that he still had a lot of food from previous days.

“ _I’m not hungry, Chloe…_ ”, César said in a weaker voice. “ _I’m used to eat few because of the war…_ ”

“But that was a long time ago! You’ll get even weaker if you don’t eat well!”, alerted Ash.

“Swellow? What’s going on with your Trainer?”, asked Toxtricity.

“I don’t know! I think he has been writing too much in these latest days, almost non-stop. And he never told me what it was. From a day to other he stopped eating and told me to not get worried and eat as much as I needed. It’s true he’s used to eat few but he never reached to this point. I can’t see him in this state!! How can I force him to eat?!”

“ _Please return home, children._ ”, begged Mr. César who did a great effort to get up from his old bed. “ _I don’t want you to be in trouble because of me…_ ”

“Watch out!!”, shouted Hope alarmed by his lack of balance. Ash was quick enough to catch him. I’m still amazed by the amount of strength that blue-coated boy has got inside him.

“ _Let me sit down… Please._ ”

Ash hesitated at first but then he obeyed. The man looked to all of us and asked firmly:

“Please go home.”

Chloe was particularly disturbed by the request. For the first time he wanted us to leave. The man held an envelope with his shaking hand and handed it over to Swellow.

“My friend, please send this letter to Mt. Silver’s Pokémon Center right now.”

“A letter? You don’t write up letters since years! Who is it for? Why so far from he-“, I heard Swellow talking this to his Trainer that interrupted him with a harsher voice: “ _DO IT! It’s an order, Swellow!!_ ”

“ _A-Alright…_ ”

And the giant bird looked to all of us in embarrassment for the harsh attitude his Trainer had shown right now, before picking up the letter and flying away towards the destination of the manuscript.

“I won’t repeat my request, kids.”

“ _O-OK… See you tomorrow, Mr. César…_ ”, said a slightly saddened Chloe to the old man before turning her back and leaving with everyone also saying farewell and following her to the exit. César didn’t say anything else.

We were really confused right now. Even Swellow had no idea what was going on to his long-time friend. It was brought the possibility of calling a doctor. That would be risky as the police could find him out and arrest him upon the treatment. On the other hand, he wouldn’t be suffering this way. It brought an argue among the kids, ultimately interrupted by Chloe, bringing up a valid possibility: “What if that letter was to call a doctor that he knows and happens to live or work around that area?”. There was no way we could tell as nobody knew the letter’s contents but we would definitely return to the apartment the next day and see if his health improved. Chloe was feeling very down for the rest of the day. Ash did an incredible work trying to cheer her up, even if he was aware that she wasn’t trusting him much. He managed to make her smile and be more talkative. Goh and Hope contributed for that as well.

Unfortunately, the efforts didn’t last long. Swellow appeared in the Cerise Laboratory in complete despair. He was screeching out of his lungs. “ _MR. CÉSAR DISAPPEARED!!! HE’S NOT IN THE APPARTMENT!!_ ”. The presence of the giant bird had alerted the staff, thinking he was threatening the children or the resident Pokémon.

“CHLOE?! WHAT’S GOING ON?!”, shouted a scared father.

“It’s that Swellow again!!”, exclaimed Chrysa.

“SOMETHING HAPPENED!!”, yelled Hope. “TOXTRICITY! TO HIS HOUSE!!”

“WE’RE GOING THERE TOO!”, said Goh in choir with Ash running after Toxtricity.

“NO TIME TO EXPLAIN, DAD!! I’LL BE BACK!!”

“CHLOE, WAIT!!”

The adults stared to all of us. Professor Cerise was about to go after his daughter but Mimey had blocked the passage with his body. He retreated against his own will, in worry. His assistants didn’t say anything but they decided to trust in the Psychic-type’s assurance that the children would be alright on their own.

We ran like crazy. I never saw Chloe running this much before, even Toxtricity was panting in effort to catch up with her. The same went for me, I decided to jump to my brother’s shoulder or else I would fall off to the middle of the road! Goh, Pikachu and Raboot were giving their all as well but they were handling the race better than me, definitely. Chloe vigorously opened the apartment door and almost slipped herself when climbing the stairs. “ _MR. CÉSAR!!_ ”, she shouted. “MR. CÉSAR!!!”. She arrived his bedroom first than us and she had just learnt the same as Swellow tried to tell us all: his Trainer had disappeared.  
  
“Mr. César?...”, Chloe repeated in a fragile pitch, frozen in the middle of the empty division.

“ _What’s this?..._ ”, wondered Goh after an object had called his attention on César’s desk. After a quick observation, he gasped and showed everyone. “ _This Poké Ball…_ It’s broken!...”

“ _Could it be?!..._ ”, the cap-wearing lad exclaimed in astonishment, looking to Swellow who was shaking in negation.

“ _And there’s a letter here!..._ It’s for you, Chloe!”, observed Goh after another look to the desk.

“ _For me?!..._ ”, she immediately picked it up and opened the envelope, holding the letter with shaking hands.

“Can you read it, Chloe?...”, asked her friend. The girl started to read it out loud:

_“Dear Chloe,_

_I’ve seen many horrors throughout my life. I wasn’t lucky enough to have lived my youth in peace in order to have freedom of choice of what I wanted to do. I wished I could have travelled the world with my friends. Not being forced to see their souls stolen away right in front of my eyes by others who weren’t necessarily having pleasure in doing this, but their superiors obliged them to do. I wished my Pokémon had seen more than bombardments, sacrificed lives and wasted lands. I feel guilty for dragging them to such scenarios._

_Life is a gift. I’ve always believed that if we’re here, it’s because someone wanted to and has got a mission for us. I’ve accomplished mine. Meeting you, made me remember the old times and the period of peace I had experienced with my family, and I missed them so much. You’re so similar to Maria. Just like you, she wasn’t sure yet what she wanted to do in her future and she was worried. But I‘ll tell you what I have told her:_

_“Not every flower is the same. Each one has got its own pace to grow. Some can flourish in one month; others can take half a year. Showing off its first petal before any other plant does not prove that it’s the best one of the field. Take your time. Because I‘m sure that once you’ve blossomed, you’ll be the prettiest flower of the entire garden.”_

I’m sure that once you’ve figured out what you want to be, nobody will stop you. I have faith in you, Chloe. You’re a good girl. Your parents have raised you well. Thank you for your attention in these latest moments of my life. Please keep this Swellow pin with you, as my gift of appreciation for our friendship. I wish you all the best for your future and in your Japanese classes. Words can be powerful, never forget about it.”

“ _M-Mr. César…_ ”, sobbed the green-eyed girl trembling like something we had never seen before as she observed the pin that she had collected from the desk.

“ _Oh no…_ ”, mumbled Hope, with tears running down her face, understanding what had happened to the old man.

“ _T-There’s more in the letter… I’ll read._ ”

And the girl did an effort to read the remaining text:

_“Hope, your determination to be able to walk again without anyone’s help is admirable. Many would have either given up or being dominated by depression. You didn’t stop enjoying life. Many would learn many things from you. I’m sure that the Guardian Deities of Alola are observing your actions and they’ll help you with your dream. You’ll be able to walk again, I completely believe in this. Thank you for your visits and offerings, Chloe has got a great friend.”_

Hope sniffed loudly; she couldn’t hold much longer her true emotions. The girl did a military salutation in his honor. Chloe continued to read the manuscript:

_“Ash, your stories of your adventures as a Pokémon Trainer are extraordinary. You’ve revealed me an unusual passion and bravery for a boy of your age. And nobody can’t tell you what you can’t do. Winning the World Coronation Series seems to be an herculean and extremely ambitious goal. But nothing is impossible for you. Fortune protects the bold. And I wouldn’t be surprised if you defeat the current champion. Just like Chloe and Hope, I’m sure you will achieve your dream. You just need to believe in it. Thank you for your stories. Chloe, be nicer with Ash.”_

Ash’s eyes looked like a Seaking’s Waterfall move. He was really moved. And more determined than ever to win the championship. “ _I will! I’ll defeat Leon!!_ ”, he said in between hiccups.

_“Goh, your statements shared great sense of knowledge. It was fascinating for me seeing such a young lad like you so much informed about the biodiversity of Pokémon and how interested you were, studying my Swellow. Taillow might be small but these are very courageous Flying-types. They won’t turn their backs to a challenge or strong opponents. Make sure the Taillow you’ve captured is in a well climate area. They dislike the cold. Knowledge is power and once you’ve taken possession of it, you can go anywhere. Your future is promising as a Pokémon Professor. Capture as many different Pokémon as you can and unveil their secrets. Thank you for your talks. Chloe, you have a friend for lifetime.”_

Goh couldn’t disguise his feelings either. Listening to that small dedicatory made the boy scrub his hand over the eyes to clear off the tears. He tried to comment but the only sound he could make would be out of sobbing.

“ _Swellow… Mr. César also left a message for you…_ ”

“ _For me?!_ ”, I heard him exclaiming with his nervous voice. That bird would start to cry at any moment. He heard Chloe’s last reading:

_“Last but not least, to my dear Swellow. The letter I’ve asked you to deliver at Mt. Silver was purposely empty. I‘ll ask for your pardon because I wasn’t brave enough to say goodbye other way. This letter is my Perish Song. But I make this question to you: How did it feel for you to fly freely to such a great distance? The air is your element. It’s your real home. My last wish is that you find yourself a new one. You have your whole life ahead, and you deserve freedom. I broke your Poké Ball to release you. You’re now a free Pokémon to go wherever you want. I’ll be forever grateful for your loyalty in all these years we’ve been together. You saved my life a countless number of times in the army. And I’ve protected you with all my might. You were like a friend, a brother, a son to me. Once again, I’m really sorry to made you go witness so many horrors and to make you in such a rough situation in these latest two decades. Find happiness in the horizon with your bluish wings and embrace the bright future ahead of you. Enjoy life and the many years you have in your powerful claws._

_Everyone, please keep fighting for your dreams and never leave anything to do. Appreciate the little things around you. And make this world be better than the one I’ve experienced in my youth._

_César, the Foreigner”_

Chloe was crying endlessly, with her knees on the floor. “ _HE DIDN’T DESERVE THIS!!_ ”, she yelled in between sobbing. Swellow had his face completely wet as well. “ _Goodbye, my friend…_ ”, the Flying-type Pokémon mumbled in great sadness. He hopped to the window frame, looked to the sunset and cried out loud the typical noise that his species make, echoing the whole neighbourhood. I couldn’t stop crying as well, it was too much. I was doing the same salutation pose as my Trainer was doing before. We had lost a soldier. Toxtricity looked miserable with those tear drops falling off his cheeks. [He very cautiously played a slow version of a known military instrumental with his chest protrusion.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Xrlf3taEo) Hope, Ash and Goh had approached Chloe and the three of them hugged her in compassion. All the four cried. I looked to Yamper, Pikachu and Raboot and they were on the same state as us other Pokémon in the room. Even the tough Rabbit Pokémon had his collar completely soaked.

Before the sun set completely, the group had decided to go to Vermilion City’s port alongside with Swellow. Goh was looking for information on his Rotom Phone. Shortly after, he moved the device to different directions and then told everyone: “This way.”

“So, that’s the correct direction?”, asked Hope.

“Fortree City can be reached easily if Swellow flies straight over the sea. The wind is favorable so it should be quicker to travel there for him.”, he explained.

“I guess this is it.”, concluded Ash. “Hoenn’s a great region, it’s full of green spaces! And there are plenty of flocks of Swellow too! You could make new friends!”

“And the weather is going to be warm for the upcoming days so it definitely won’t be an issue either to adapt to the new habitat. Goodbye, Swellow. Be happy!”, bowed Goh on his last statements.

“So long, Swellow! Meet lots of different Pokémon over there!”, waved Hope alongside with me and Toxtricity. “Have a safe trip!” we both told him.

“See you, Swellow! Be careful out there!”, said Ash farewell to the giant bird.

“Bye! If any Pokémon bothers you, use your Double Team to confuse them!”, suggested Pikachu while winking.

“Or your Brave Bird move if they’re stubborn enough. Have a good trip, Swellow.”, said Raboot to him.

“ _Swellow…_ ”, Chloe verbalized in gloom.

“ _Yes, Chloe?_ ”, we Pokémon heard him reacting towards the girl. To our surprise, she hugged the Pokémon, leaving a tear out of one of her eyes.

“…Once you take off, _please don’t look back._ Enjoy your new life from now on…”

The Pokémon smiled compassionately and gave a gentle headbutt onto the white dressed girl. “ _I will, Maria… No. Chloe…_ ”, he spoke.

Swellow gave few steps back and looked to all of us for a last time.

“The winds call for me. Farewell, _my friends._ ”

And so, he turned his elegant body, spread his wings, ran towards the margin and took off, flapping his wide wings towards the blue horizon. “GOODBYE, SWELLOW!!”, shouted Chloe to him, waving happily. The other children and Pokémon moved their arms too in farewell. [Toxtricity used his free hand to play a last song for the day](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmoKjMseSg8), suitable for the atmosphere, as we watched the Swallow Pokémon disappearing behind a thick cloud and tasting freedom for the first time in decades. César had lived his life. Now it was Swellow’s turn.

**Author's Note:**

> A more angsty text than the usual. If I managed to make you cry, then it's a good sign. I wanted to give focus in Chloe in this third chapter of the Litten Narrative series because I think this character is underrated by the general public so far by the time of writing. I'm sure we'll see great stuff from this mysterious girl in future, we just need to be patient! Coming soon somewhere this Summer, chapter 4! A little less angsty, but just a little! Thank you for your reading, stay out of the strong sunlight and be safe from the virus!


End file.
